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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26704081">Of Pirates and Heroes - The SSV Artemisium</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimReaper7557/pseuds/GrimReaper7557'>GrimReaper7557</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tales of the SSV Artemisium [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Mass Effect 3, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, Threesome - F/F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:07:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>52,650</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26704081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimReaper7557/pseuds/GrimReaper7557</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What would the galaxy look like 20 years after Commander Shephard set off the Crucible? What kind of people would be needed to keep the peace? What would the galaxy look like after such a traumatic war? What happened to Cerberus?</p><p>Welcome to the SSV Artemisium where all is not as it seems and the crew is not the heroes you're expecting. Join them on their adventures as they patrol the galaxy in the aftermath of the Reaper Conflict, learning to trust new friends and battle old enemies. Some will find love, while others find vengeance and everyone has to learn what it means to move forward. Enemies and Allies will be taught the meaning of the Jolly Roger and why it was meant to be feared. </p><p>"Keep your wits about you, for here be monsters."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Asari Character(s)/Original Male Human Character(s), Original Female Human Character(s)/Original Male Turian Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tales of the SSV Artemisium [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916170</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Captain on Deck</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This series has been inspired by all the fantastic fiction that AO3 has brought to my attention. In particular BronzeAgeLove, WafflesRock, Nemi_Almasy and Amariahellcat are four of my favorite authors here who have really contributed to me getting back to writing fiction. Please go check them out if you love romance, Turians and fluff.</p><p>The SSV Artimesium idea is based off of the artwork and ideas by Euderion also on Deviant Art.<br/>https://www.deviantart.com/euderion/art/Berlin-class-Cerberus-Version-794916169</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>2204 – Cerberus Training Facility</p><p>Tristan was running for his life. The heavy point of his armored boots sounded on the steel flooring. Alarms were blaring in the facility and he knew he didn’t have much time to make it to the shuttle pad to try and hijack a ride off planet. There were shouts behind him and the sound of weapons fire left him ducking into an alcove. Peeking back behind him revealed three Cerberus assault troopers in their white armor moving quickly down the hallway towards him. </p><p>Their lack of shields made them easy targets though and his Vindicator rifle quickly chewed through their armor and dropped two of them almost immediately. The first trooper caught the burst through his helmet, blowing most of his head off, and he dropped without a sound; blood and viscera painting a support column behind him. The second trooper was unlucky and took the rounds to this chest, Tristan could see the trooper clutching at his chest, the sound of sucking air and choking coming through the armor’s external comms.  The third was able to fire off several rounds that pinged off the surrounding structure before Tristan’s return fire found its mark. The rounds flew true and struck the trooper dead center in the chest and a burst of blood blossomed before the trooper dropped. </p><p>“These fuckers just don’t quit.” Tristan quickly popped a new heatsink into his rifle before continuing on.</p><p>“Security to hallway Bravo seven, security to hallway Bravo seven. Saboteur identified as Cerberus Operative Tristan Ward. He is armed and extremely dangerous, shoot on sight.”</p><p>The announcement repeated and Tristan damned his luck. He had hoped to be able to get out of the research area before the alarms went off. Now he would be fighting the entire base on his way out if he wasn’t lucky. </p><p>Two more troopers rounded the hallway in front of him and opened fire. He felt several rounds clip his right arm, piercing the heavy armor he wore and burying themselves into his flesh. He hissed at the pain before quickly putting the two humans down. Triple round bursts punched through their armor leaving large holes and spurts of blood before they dropped dead. </p><p>Pushing forward he encountered several more patrols of assault troopers who were quickly dispatched and several scientists that tried to get in his way. All of them took a quick three round burst to the chest and Tristan hurried on. </p><p>Several more hallways and more assault troopers he found himself nearly to the shuttle bay. He could see the doors that would lead to his freedom and potential escape only a hundred meters ahead. He never saw the grenade that landed just in front of him until the explosion sent him flying backwards into a wall. </p><p>The few seconds of consciousness that he had left told him that he was unlikely to make it out of the situation alive. He couldn’t feel the majority of his body and there was blood quickly pooling under him. His vision faded as several Cerberus Commando’s approached him and calls for help echoed down the hallway. </p><p>‘At least I went out fighting.’ </p><p>oOo</p><p>Joint Operation Cruiser SSV-Artemisium </p><p>Captain Calico Wolfram stepped off the elevator into the large hanger bay of the cruiser to various geth units hauling crates and weapons around the bay, with several others performing maintenance on the two UT-47A Kodiak shuttles. Two A-61 Mantis Gunships sat idly in their hanger supports while ten geth fighters used for screening the ship lay silent, their insect like forms a stark contrast against the hard angles of the ship. </p><p>Cal moved towards the armory, surveying the organized chaos around her. A bulky krogan was busy modifying and organizing weapons and munitions while nearby several geth troopers organized various crates, equipment and worked on other projects. </p><p>“Hey Crar, that new shipment provide what you were looking for?” </p><p>Crar looked down at her, his larger stature easily towering over her, “Yea the thermal clips needed restocking and the requested mods were also delivered. We should be good for a few more months with all of this and we can probably stand to sell some of it. Newest ration kits came onboard as well, better than the last crates we got at least. Fresh stuff will need to be restocked soon though and the main bar could use a full restock as well.”</p><p>Cal just shook her head, a large grin on her face, “I’ll see what I can do Crar, we’re not due to dock anywhere for a bit but soon as we do, I’ll be sure to get a shopping list together. If there’s nothing else I’ll let you get back to it.”</p><p>Crar nodded dark blue eyes shining in the light as he turned back to modifying his M-98 Widow sniper rifle. Cal turned back to the elevator, nodding at several geth units as she passed by. Their personalities, while not as distinct as other sentient beings, had improved since the end of the war. </p><p>Speaking of personalities Cal watched Ares, the geth Prime that had come aboard as an advisor and coordinator, organize supplies. He was required for long-term coordination of geth military units and operations on the ship. Though the synthetic race’s move to sentience and personal intelligence allowed each geth independence and personality, they were still a very communal and inter-connected race. His primary goal was integration of geth units into regular ships like this and had been instrumental in some of their missions. A 12-foot sentient AI carrying a large weapon usually calmed a situation down, or quickly escalated so no one had to waste their time talking. </p><p>As Cal entered the lift, she punched the button for the crew deck where most of her team would be hanging out towards the beginning of the night cycle. </p><p>oOo</p><p>On the crew deck Cal exited to see Veyiz, talking with a female quarian and a geth platform. She also noted the several empty bottles on the table and the occasional giggle or laugh could be heard in the otherwise quiet space. Cal heard Veyiz animatedly talking, hands moving about as she narrated her story as she neared them. </p><p>“But yea, I ended up throwing him off a roof. The damned krogan fell 10 stories and managed to pick itself up like nothing happened. And that was how I ended up meeting Crar for the first time.”</p><p>Lela'Veezh sat looking at her in shock, “I can’t believe Crar agreed to work with us! I mean you threw him off of a building!” </p><p>“Well that was a while ago when I was a more spirited person. And he lived, and being honest I think he kind of enjoyed it.” </p><p>Cal couldn’t help but smile at the story as she walked towards the table, the huntress the first to offer a greeting. Though Cal suspected the asari commando knew exactly when she had stepped off the lift. </p><p>“Hey Captain, making the rounds before going to snog that handsome turian of yours?”</p><p>Cal smiled and saw Lela snicker while looking at her, bright eyes nearly glowing against her reddish tinted skin. Cal would always be thrilled to see Lela with her faceplate off, enjoying the efforts of geth and salarian scientists to really live a full life.  </p><p>“Oh, laugh it up you two, at least with me being bonded to a turian means that you get better dextro-rations Lela.” </p><p>The quarian shook her head in silent laughter, her mouth turned up at the corners in a small grin. “Why don’t you join us, have a drink or two and you can tell us a story?”</p><p>“Another time, still gotta check in on Gailus, and either of you happen to know where Enis is stashed at?” </p><p>Veyiz nodded, “Yea she’s probably in the starboard observation room, still can’t believe Cerberus would put windows on a cruiser but that’s ego for you.”</p><p>“Yea well it gives us a pretty good view, thanks you two. Have a good night.” </p><p>Veyiz and Lela saluted with their glasses while the geth platform known as Poseidon simply nodded his optical sensor at her. Cal smiled before heading towards the starboard observation room. </p><p>She found Enis, the other asari commando on the crew sitting on one of the couches staring out into the twinkling lights of the FTL slipstream. The lounge was a usual favorite of the crew, a full bar and beautiful view allowing for quiet relaxation or happy memories as the occasion called for. </p><p>Cal kept quiet as she moved forward, joining the commando in watching the lights in silent contemplation. Of the two asari onboard the ship Enis was typically the more reserved one while Veyiz preferred to be social and drinking with the rest of the crew. Although the two together would more than happily get drunk, start a bar fight and come back to the ship hanging off of one another laughing about how they beat up a bar full of inebriated idiots. Crar and Gailus were usually able to defuse any major situation, or join in as the occasion called for. </p><p>Cal had come to rely on their expertise and familiarity. They were quick with their biotics, but quicker with a joke or friendly nudge when they felt someone needed a pickup. If the crew was a family, they were certainly the heart of it, or at least the aunts that wouldn’t hesitate to throw someone off a building for you. </p><p>“Veyiz is telling her story about throwing Crar off a roof again. Remind me to buy him a bottle of ryncol next time we’re in port. I think he’s earned it.” </p><p>Enis looked up at the smiling Cal shaking her head and chuckling at hearing that Veyiz was discussing their early mercenary days again. </p><p>“Think we should start a betting pool on whether or not she and Crar headbutt each other or start sleeping together?” Enis’ raspy voice never failed to send a tingle down Cal’s spine and she did her best to brush it aside before laughing. </p><p>Enis smiled and laughed with Cal at the idea, Rarkan Crar was probably the most laid back Krogan anyone had met, though it was in stark contrast with his use of the anti-material rifle he typically carried around. </p><p>“Oh, by the way, Gailus asked me to let you know he was looking for you in the CIC. He passed by about ten minutes ago.”</p><p>“Thanks Enis, I’ll go find him. See you in the morning.”</p><p>Enis smiled after the human woman, happy for the brief company before her thoughts wandered to the past and she once again turned her gaze out the viewing wall of the ship. Letting her thoughts drift with the dancing lights. </p><p>oOo</p><p>One elevator trip later Cal arrived to the CIC and several more geth units stood around the holographic representation of the local space they were in. She could see they were coordinating a travel route through various bad patches of space that the commercial freighters tended to avoid in this part of the system. Their current focus being figuring out if the reports of mercenary raiders had any truth in them. </p><p>However, it was the large turian figure that Cal was interested in. His black facial plating dull in the glow of the CIC, his white markings stark against his plates in the low light. As she approached her sub-vocal translator told her that the turian was pleased to see her. </p><p>She moved forward to wrap her arms around his waist, doing her best to press against his back and hummed as best she could, without her own extra vocal cords, to show her pleasure in seeing him. Pushing her face against his back she rubbed her cheek against the soft casual clothing he wore, breathing in his scent. He smelled of cinnamon and dark chocolate and something slightly metallic due to his plates. Closing her eyes, she could feel him rumble in satisfaction, her body tingling from the vibrations. </p><p> She felt him shift, turning towards her to place his arms around her back, a softer rumble echoing from his chest. Their height difference was pronounced as turians were one of the taller races in the milky way, surpassed only by the Krogan. Being a seven-foot tall apex species meant that most humans only reached their mid chest and in Cal’s case it meant that his arms basically came down over her back rather than around it.  All it meant to Cal is that she could feel the rumble in his chest when he held her against him and purred. </p><p>“Whatcha want me for big guy?” she smirked up at him. </p><p>Gailus did his best imitation of an eye roll, humming his amusement to the feisty woman he held in his arms. </p><p>“The geth found several likely locations for us to explore when we have the time. They’re running weapons checks and long-range passive scans to not tip anyone off.” </p><p>Cal nodded against his chest, content for the moment and knowing her crew would be on top of things. </p><p>“Well I saw Crar in the armory checking through our gear, the geth were sorting out the rest of the equipment and stuffs we took on and I know Veyiz and Enis will be ready for a fight. Think we can go catch a few hours of sleep?”</p><p>Cal smiled as she heard Gailus’ rumbles deepen at her suggestion. </p><p>“I’m sure someone will come yelling if there’s anything important. Hopefully they don’t send up Crar like last time.”</p><p>Cal laughed into Gailus’ chest, remembering when Enis sent up Crar to geth them as a joke and the Krogan finding them wrapped up in each other. Her turian hadn’t been a happy person that day. </p><p>“Well finish up here and meet me upstairs, I’ll be waiting for you.” Cal twirled way from him, black hair glinting in the low light of the CIC, an extra shake in her hips that Gailus couldn’t keep his eyes off if he tried. </p><p>He growled low in his sub-harmonics knowing that Cal would hear him and tried to keep his desires in check to avoid chasing her down. He heard the infuriating woman giggle as she danced out of sight. He steadied himself for a moment before turning back to the CIC to see one of the geth looking at him. </p><p>“Go to your mate Gailus, we will contact you if there are any changes.” </p><p>“Thank you Daemon. Please alert me when weapons checks are finished as well, just an omni-message will be fine.”</p><p>“As you wish Gailus.”</p><p>The turian nodded, once again thankful for the geth presence on the ship. He stalked out of the CIC eager to show Calico just what kind of turian he was.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Boarding Party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The crew hoists the black flag and the Jolly Roger pursues her first prey.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Decommissioned Cerberus Facility – Attican Traverse</p><p>Geth platforms moved in and around the area, stepping over bodies and damaged equipment as they surveyed the remains of the station. Bodies of Cerberus Assault troopers and Commandos lay in broken piles of shattered armor and blood. Bodies tainted by the Reaper influence that had been implanted in them, more husk than man. Destroyed geth platforms littered the area from Cerberus resistance and heavy weapons fire. Cerberus’ desperation had only resulted the sacrifice of several terminals, their controlling programs safely backed up in the greater consciousness. </p><p>Strobing red lights lit the corridors as survivors scrambled down the hallways seeking shelter and cover. The occasional sound of weapons discharging broke the quiet as pockets of Cerberus survivors were systematically eliminated by the geth. Longer periods of gunfire and explosions sounded when pockets of resistance were found and destroyed.</p><p>On particular lab was empty of personnel, cold, quiet and dark as if resting. The two geth platforms that entered quickly summoned others so that the data they were seeing would be shared more quickly. Screens flashed warnings and medical data as more geth entered the room.</p><p>Several more geth platforms shuffled around a cryo-chamber, monitors and screens flashing information and alarms. Data was extracted and sorted, an influx of biometrics and vitals told of extensive cybernetic changes and the need for several replacement limbs. Within the chamber a heavily damaged human lay dormant but still alive.</p><p>A consensus was reached and the geth quickly began their work.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Calico looked blearily at her coffee mug wishing against all hope that she could crawl back into bed. The sounds of meat frying and other cooking sounds were both torture and a melody to her ears. Gailus was busy fixing them breakfast while she attempted a return to consciousness after the serious lack of sleep from the night prior.</p><p>“It’s always amusing how much of a morning person you aren’t Cal.” The soft voice startled her out of her staring contest with her coffee. Looking up she noticed that Lela had removed her faceplate, pale reddish skin and maroon hair standing in contrast to her luminescent eyes.</p><p>The quarian had her own plate of food and a mug of some beverage that Cal couldn’t remember the name of. She did know that it was a giant pain in the ass to get it, but Lela was always thrilled when they managed to find some. Cal mentally shook herself back to wakefulness and took a sip of her coffee to get the caffeine into her system. </p><p>“Gailus wouldn’t let me go back to sleep, and I was comfy.”</p><p>The turian in question snorted, “I do believe it’s your fault that you were so worn out.”</p><p>Lela laughed at the evil glare Calico shot at her lover before turning back to her plate of food.</p><p>Gailus joined the pair carrying two plates of various meats and breads, and a mug of kava. He set the plates down, one loaded with various roasted meats and the other with eggs, bacon and toast for Calico. He gave an approving rumble as she reached up to give a quick squeeze to his waist. Mandibles flicked in a grin as Calico dug into her breakfast with an appreciative groan. Gailus followed suit and tossed back his own bits of blueish meat in a gulping motion.</p><p>Veyiz and Enis stepped off the lift shortly after and joined the trio at a quiet breakfast. Veyiz went to boil water for their tea while Enis prepared the fruit they preferred in their usual morning routine. Several minutes of silence passed before the elevator dinged and the whirring of geth circuitry and metal was heard.</p><p>The geth platform known as Daemon stepped out of the lift, identifiable by the reddish markings on his armor, glancing around at the crew who was now staring at him in various degrees of alertness.</p><p>“Captain Wolfram, Spectre Tremorian, we have detected a large frigate of Krogan design that is operating within the expected area of avoidance for shipping vessels. There is no IFF designation and the ship is running quiet.”</p><p>Gailus looked at Calico, a brow plate raised. She looked around at her crew before answering Daemon, “Very well, start heading their way, keep us out of their sensor range for as long as possible. Plan for a boarding action and warm up the missile platforms and broadside guns in case they see us coming. If they start running, target their engines as best we can. Try to minimize hull damage.”</p><p>“Very well Captain, we will prepare for the usual boarding procedures. Ares has already alerted Crar in the hold. He has begun prepping weapons and armor”</p><p>Calico nodded at the geth, “Let us know when we’re in shuttle range or if anything changes.”</p><p>Daemon nodded, “Of course Captain.” With that the crew was left in contemplative silence as the platform turned back to the elevator and left the crew deck.</p><p>Veyiz sighed at the sound of the elevator doors closing, “I mean I know we’re out here looking for these assholes, but honestly, did it have to happen right now?”</p><p>Enis chuckled at her fellow huntress, “That’s our lot in life, always having breakfast interrupted. At least those two got some before we all go to potential death.” She motioned at Gailus and Cal while Lela covered her mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter.</p><p>“Very funny, I’ll remember that when you’re begging me for shore leave, next time we’re on Omega.” Gailus’ threats were mitigated by the slight flick of a mandible in a turian smirk.</p><p>Calico just rolled her eyes at Gailus as he chuffed in mock indignation before swallowing another piece of his breakfast meats. “So aside from having the geth breach the airlock, how do we want to handle this?”</p><p>Gailus raised his brow plates, quiet in his thoughts for a moment. “The council was specific in wanting proof of piracy before we simply blow a ship out the sky. So, we have to board and search, we find evidence of piracy we execute them and call it a day. Or hopefully the just start shooting at us. Keeps it simple.”</p><p>“So, shuttle in quietly, hack the doors and wait for the geth to breach the other airlock?”</p><p>Gailus nodded at Enis’ question, “I think that’s the best option. If this is typical krogan design we can have Ares take three other platforms and Crar to breach the shuttle bay. There shouldn’t be anyone there, just cargo. The rest of us can take the shuttle and go in through the front door after they draw attention.”</p><p>Gailus meddled with his omni tool before a floating representation of the ship in question appeared. The Krogan never built anything that wasn’t utilitarian and the blocky structure of their frigate was no exception. Smaller than typical frigates its design was favored by less than savory types for the large cargo holds and spacious interiors.</p><p>“Do we want to try and remote into their systems before we attack to make sure they’re the ones we’re looking for?”</p><p>Gailus looked over at Lela, raising a brow ridge, “Cal had mentioned you were working on something. Is that an option for us? Maybe let us get into their systems to lock down the ship?”</p><p>“I believe so, the system is finished and the geth should be able to install it and use it. I’ll talk to Daemon to make any programming changes for them.”</p><p>“Sounds like we’ve got a plan in motion. Soon as we’re done with breakfast lets get to weapons check and shuttle prep. I’ll head up to the CIC and check in with Daemon and let everyone know once we’re close. The shuttle approach will probably take a few hours, but once we lock down the ship, we can pull the Cruiser up alongside. Gailus you mind prepping my pistol for me?”</p><p>The turian nodded at his mate, the atmosphere turning heavy as everyone started making mental preparations for the upcoming fight.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Several hours and one very tense shuttle ride later, Crar made his way over the outer hull of the frigate. The mag-coils on his boots vibrated through his armor with every step. Several geth units followed closely along the outer hull of the frigate. Crar could see beams of light from the bright optics that constituted their ‘face’ as they shined on the hull of the ship.</p><p>Crar watched as Daemon affixed a large box shaped object to a maintenance port on the frigate. There was a quick flash of lights before a green indicator shown in the black of space. The geth Prime, Ares, towered over everything, keeping a watchful eye. Even though the possibility of anyone else being on the hull of the ship with them was astronomically low.</p><p>“Captain we’re almost at the cargo bay door. We’ll prep charges and get set to make entry.”</p><p>“Thanks Crar, we’re almost at the front docking hatch. No signs of alarms or distress from the frigate, good chance they’re in their night cycle.”</p><p>“Good thing we brought enough explosives to wake them up then. Bastards will never know what hit them.” Crar chuckled over the channel.</p><p>“Crar, remember, we kinda need the ship intact. And be careful with those, the ship wouldn’t be the same without your shining personality onboard.”</p><p>Crar snorted in amusement at Veyiz’ comment, “If you wanted to snuggle tonight Huntress all you had to do was ask.”</p><p>“Alright cut the chatter lovebirds, we have a job to do.”</p><p>“Yes dad.” Crar heard Enis laugh and figured Gailus would be glaring daggers at the asari.</p><p>“Hasn’t Calico pulled the stick from your ass yet Gailus?” Crar knew he would be tweaking the turian’s mandibles but in his experience better a lighthearted mood than an overly serious one.</p><p>“Please don’t piss off the krogan with high-explosives love.”</p><p>“I hate all of you.” Crar just laughed at Gailus’ outburst.</p><p>Lela came over the comm channel, “Okay Daemon has the remote terminal active. The ship is quiet. These guys have flight data that coincides with several recent attacks in the area. Looks like roughly fifty crew members onboard, most down in the cargo areas. There should be roughly fifteen to twenty on the upper decks and cockpit area.”</p><p>Gailus came over their comms again, “Alright everyone, final weapons check. Crar get ready to hit those charges once they’re set. We should dock in about five minutes.”</p><p>The next five minutes passed quickly, adrenaline and nerves for the upcoming battle leaving everyone anxious. Crar passed his breaching charges to the geth troopers who affixed them to the large cargo ramp on the back of the frigate. Onboard the shuttle, the docking procedure finished and a moment of silence reigned. Nerves settled and training kicked in to bring a calm focus.</p><p>“Punch it.”</p><p>Behind his helmet Crar smiled before detonating the charges. The sudden vacuum pulled loose odds and ends from the cargo hold and Crar along with the geth waited a moment before making their way into the hold.</p><p>oOo</p><p>At the shuttle Enis and Veyiz pushed forward as the airlock swished open, their dark commando armor blending into the gloom, while Calico and Gailus followed. Three geth platforms brought up the rear security of the team. The airlock led them into the long central corridor that ran the length of the ship. The lighting was dim when they entered, the ship clearly on a night cycle and the team could only make out the jutting structural supports in the walls. It was only a moment before the halls were lit in a murderous red glare as alarms sounded and the sounds of angry pirates and mercenaries could be heard banging through the halls.</p><p>“Gailus, Enis and Veyiz work your way to the hold. I’ll take the geth to the front and secure the cockpit. If I remember my training you should have a few crew quarters and miscellaneous rooms ahead and then the mess hall. I’d expect a defensive setup there.”</p><p>Gailus nodded in agreement with his mate and turned to speak to the two huntresses waiting for their orders while they kept watch down the hallway.</p><p>“Alright, we’ll clear this crew deck and secure the mess hall and wait for Crar and Ares to report in. We’ll have a lot of storage below for stragglers to hide in and a good potential for a lot of equipment to salvage. Move fast and be accurate.”</p><p>Both asari nodded him before quickly moving forward to the first set of structural supports, leapfrogging ahead of one another as they cleared rooms and corners. Gailus kept pace behind them, assault rifle pointed down to the far end of the hallway where the lighting didn’t provide a clear view.</p><p>Ahead they could hear bodies moving in the dark corridor, boots pounding on the grating in an effort to escape the attacking force. A few occupants of the ship started shooting from doorways and structural supports in the hallway, the pulses of their rifles bright in the dim lighting.</p><p>Enis and Veyiz opened fire immediately, weapons barking as cries of alarm sounded. A large batarian that tried to rush the pair was slammed into a wall by Enis with a biotic throw and the sound of something snapping could be heard over the gunfire. Veyiz quickly closed to the slumped form and promptly finished him off with a shotgun blast to the chest.</p><p>Gailus was always impressed by how well they worked together, cutting through the rabble cleanly and quickly. To his end he worried about anyone that thought they could sneak up behind them, such as the human that popped out of a hallway only to run into the business end of his rifle. A quick burst shredded the man, viscera splattering the wall behind him.</p><p>“Crar what’s your status?” Gailus felt rounds impact his shields as a batarian stepped out of a doorway further back, having had the sense to don armor before engaging the boarding party. He took a knee and ducked behind a support structure, “Contact rear!”</p><p>He heard the two asari acknowledge him before he leaned back out to return fire, his own rounds punching through the low-quality armor the batarian had, shattering the ceramic and metal plating, red blood splattering against the wall. Gailus watched the batarian fall out of cover and quickly put a burst through the large head of his enemy.</p><p>“This is Crar. Ares and the geth have secured the cargo bay. We spaced a few miscellaneous crewmembers down here but they’re starting to organize. We’ll have to clear a few open spaces where they’ll be gathering towards the back.”</p><p>“Spectre Tremorian we are detecting at least thirty hostiles left onboard, spread over three areas in the ship. Uploading data to your omni.”</p><p>“Thanks Ares, we’ll start working our way back. We’ll meet you in the middle.”</p><p>“Understood, we will continue forward.” Gailus could hear the sounds of geth pulse rifles over the comm unit before the transmission ended.</p><p>Gailus turned towards the two commandos in time to see Enis fling three humans down the hall before she and Veyiz tore them to shreds with their weapons. Their armor, typical for slavers, wasn’t great. Between the M-8 Avenger Enis was using and Veyiz’ Disciple shotgun the asari were able to chew through any shields or armor that the enemy had.</p><p>Gailus’ Phaeston rifle allowed him to quickly clean up anything that the two huntresses missed, which if he was honest wasn’t much. The trio quickly tore through the remaining crew, mostly batarians and humans with the odd turian and vorcha. The air hung thick with the smell of cooked off thermal clips, ozone and the tang of various alien fluids.</p><p>Enis ducked behind a support beam as several rounds nearly took her head off. Steadying herself she focused her biotics and threw a singularity down the hall, leaving several figures floating in the dark. By the time she pulled up her rifle Gailus and Veyiz were already firing, the corpses floating macabrely in the air before hitting the deck with a wet thump.</p><p>“I think that’s everyone, that’s the mess hall door up ahead.” Veyiz nodded to the sealed bulkhead door as she slipped another thermal clip into her rifle.</p><p>“Okay, I’ll prime a few grenades. Veyiz get the door and open it when I say. I’ll lob them in and you close it right after.” Gailus pulled the aforementioned grenades from the slots on his armor and flicked the safety caps off with a talon.</p><p>Veyiz nodded, her omni tool up as they approached the door. They could barely make out the sounds of defensive preparations being made through the thick carbon-steel door, but they knew there would be a good number of enemies on the other side.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey everyone, I'm hoping to keep an update schedule of every other Monday. It gives me time to troubleshoot chapters, ensure I have all my internal lore consistent and ensure everything makes sense. </p><p>Please let me know if the POV switches aren't clear or are confusing. I'm coming back to writing after a very long absence so if there are problems or things that people notice please let me know.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Meet the Crew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Jolly Roger earns her stripes and the crew gets a couple of surprises. The request for assistance is certainly new and no one is quite sure how to react to their new guest.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Violence and carnage ahead. Here there be monsters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cal watched the geth units in front of her quickly move forward towards the front of the frigate. They were efficient and thorough in their movement, rifles scanning each corner and quickly clearing rooms. The platforms worked in a silent coordination; their orders having been to get Cal to the cockpit to prevent any escape of the vessel.</p><p>They only found a few stragglers coming out of forward rooms, the geth designed pulse rifles barked in the quiet. Two batarians and a salarian fell quickly under the onslaught, not having a chance to even bring weapons up to shoot.</p><p>They passed through a bulkhead door and came to what could conventionally be called the CIC, though it was more of a conference table with a holographic map built into it. Shots rang out and Cal quickly ducked behind the geth unit in front of her, a few of the shots pinging off the shields.</p><p>The geth quickly returned fire and dropped the two humans with brutal efficiency, each man dying quickly under the sudden onslaught.</p><p>Cal quickly peeked out, seeing one of the men, or what was left of him, strewn over the conference table in a pool of blood and the other slumped against a wall.</p><p>“Captain we should proceed quickly, we detect two more life signs on the bridge. There is a likely chance that they will try to jump to FTL or scuttle the ship.”</p><p>Cal nodded, “Let’s go, we have to get control of the flight deck then.”</p><p>Two of the geth moved forward quickly, flanking the door ahead while the third started a hacking routine. The doors opened to a panicked salarian and a krogan arguing, something that would have been funny had the Krogan not leveled a Claymore shotgun at them when the doors opened.</p><p>Three geth pulse rifles barked alongside the chatter of a M-3 Predator pistol and the krogan roared as it fired back. Cal heard the shields of the geth around her fail and felt some of the shots impact her own armor. They were in serious trouble if something didn’t turn the tide quickly for them.</p><p>With more speed than she would have expected the krogan had reloaded and fired another round, and one of the geth to her right fell, a hole through the majority of its torso. Cal grimaced at the realization her pistol was near ineffective against the monster in front of her.</p><p>“Don’t stop firing! I’m gonna use a plasma round!”</p><p>The two remaining geth platforms continued their assault on the raging krogan, swapping out thermal clips nearly as fast as the krogan had. Cal watched his shields fail and armor shatter under the onslaught, but the krogan looked none the worse for wear. She activated her omni-tool, the miniature cannon spooling up the high-explosive plasma round. The incinerate mechanism had saved her ass more times than she cared to count and she hoped it would do so again. She pointed her arm at the krogan who had since dropped the shotgun and looked like he was about to charge at them.</p><p>The incinerate pulse fired and detonated, the plasma burning through what remained of the krogan’s armor and into his chest. A scream of rage and pain echoed from him before it died off, blood and viscera dripping off of him as he fell backward under the unrelenting fire of the geth.</p><p>The salarian, who Cal assumed was their pilot, who had been attempting to hide behind the now dead krogan, was slumped against the pilot’s chair, having caught a stray round and some of the incineration blast.</p><p>Cal watched him try to take a breath, the ragged intake telling her that the end was close for the salarian. She leveled her pistol at him and pulled the trigger, the loud bang echoing in the otherwise quiet cockpit. It was a mercy killing, drowning in your own blood as it pooled in your lungs was not a way anyone should have to die.</p><p>“Boarding crew, we’ve secured the bridge. Clear out the rest of this rust heap and we can get out of here.”</p><p>Ares came over the comms, “Understood. Captain I’ve registered the loss of a geth terminal. Are you okay?”</p><p>“I’m fine Ares, the krogan up here had a Claymore shotgun, took out one of your platforms with his second round, was he able to upload to the server?”</p><p>“Negative, no server activity was registered before the platform went offline.”</p><p>Cal looked to the smoking ruin that was her former crew member, a stillness coming over her at the loss of life.</p><p>“Fuck.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>The grenades detonated with a ‘whump’ that Enis could feel in her bones. After Gailus had tossed them through the door Veyiz hadn’t been able to seal it again before a barrage of weapons fire greeted them. Gailus had pulled Veyiz into the corner for cover while Enis smashed herself into the wall and quickly threw up her own barrier to block the resulting explosions.</p><p>Shrapnel and debris flew through the doorway, bouncing off of her barriers and Gailus’ shields. Enis felt the overpressure of the grenades slam into her body and senses before it cleared. Smells of smoke and heated metal followed along with the scent of burnt meat and scorched ozone.</p><p>Unfurling herself from the wall Enis peered around the doorway to observe the carnage. The grenades had flipped tables, eviscerated several of the mercenaries and there were pieces of things Enis didn’t want to identify hanging from various parts of the room. She turned to glare at the turian who was surveying his work, Veyiz stepping around him to see what had happened.</p><p>“Gailus. What. The. Fuck.” Enis was fuming at the lack of warning they’d had about the power of the grenades.</p><p>“Crar gave them to me, he didn’t tell me he modified them.”</p><p>“Well fuck yea. We definitely need some more of those! Almost as good as biotics.” Enis rolled her eyes at Veyiz’ enthusiasm before spinning to put a round into one of the unfortunate survivors of the chaos.</p><p>“Eyes up, we’ve still gotta clear the last of these mercs out. And maybe use one of those grenades next time, I think I just stepped on an eyeball.” The squish beneath her boot didn’t warrant any real investigation; puking in the middle of a firefight wasn’t prudent.</p><p>The trio quickly put down anyone who was still capable of drawing breath and cleared the last of the crew deck. Enis realized they hadn’t heard from Crar and the geth units in a little bit, and things were suspiciously quiet on their end.</p><p>“Hey Ares, how’s the cargo bay looking?”</p><p>“Huntress Enis, we have cleared the shuttle bay, first cargo hold, and are making out way forward to the last storage area on the ship. We are detecting less than five hostiles left. The ship will be clear shortly.”</p><p>“Fucking hell, Crar must have done a number down there. I think we only had five or six up here in the mess deck.” Veyiz kicked over a still smoking corpse ensuring that the body was in fact dead.</p><p>Gailus brought up his omni, “Cal, we’re all set here, Crar is cleaning up below. Crar soon as you’re done down there check any crates and see if there’s any good salvage for us.”</p><p>“Way ahead of you Gailus.” Several loud bangs and a wet slapping sound were heard over the comms, “That’s the last of them and we’ll be able to start packing up a few crates of raw materials and equipment. See everyone shortly.”</p><p>“Fuck yea, time for a drink!”</p><p>Enis rolled her eyes and squeezed Veyiz’ shoulder while Gailus flicked a mandible at the two of them in a smile.</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>Decommissioned Cerberus Facility – Attican Traverse</strong>
</p><p>He woke screaming, the pain of a forgotten trauma fresh in his mind, the nightmare he had been living coming to the front. Everything hurt. Joints ached, limbs were heavy and there was a deep-seated pain just behind his eyes. A beeping from somewhere behind him felt like it was driving a spike into his brain. The beginning of a migraine blooming into an exquisite pain.</p><p>There was a sudden rush of coolness in his arm and he could feel much of the sensation fade, a sense of calm washing over him.</p><p>
  <em>‘Painkillers.’ </em>
</p><p>Taking stock of his surroundings he started to understand he was in some sort of lab or medical clinic. He could make out a variety of machines and he was clearly hooked up to something monitoring his vitals.</p><p>“It is good to see you awake Hades. We apologize for the pain; it was unavoidable though we were not expecting you to wake up so suddenly.”</p><p>The geth that suddenly appeared before him sent his heart rate spiking before the medication flooding his system regulated it down again.</p><p>“What’s going on, and why are you calling me Hades?”</p><p>“Our apologies, we were forced to perform extensive medical procedures in order to save your life. Cerberus left you in an incomplete state and with several implants non-functioning. We were also forced to make other modifications. Your designation can be explained later”</p><p>There was a curl of fear and something unknown that buried itself in his gut.</p><p>
  <em>Modifications? Incomplete? Cerberus? Designation? What the fuck happened to me?</em>
</p><p>“What did you do to me?”</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>SSV-Artemisium</strong>
</p><p>Cal was reading in the starboard lounge, enjoying some downtime since their last raid. They were currently on a patrol pattern, weaving in and out of the Terminus System boundaries as a show of force. The supplies they had taken from the frigate showed promise for having good resale value and the few weapons worth taking would sell quickly on Omega once they stopped in for a refit.</p><p>“Captain Wolfram platform Daemon requests your presence in the CIC.”</p><p>Cal grumbled at the interruption by the geth AI, “Understood, I’m on my way.”</p><p>Passing through the bulkhead door and into the mess hall revealed Enis and Veyiz sitting at a table by themselves talking quietly, two glasses and a bottle of something vibrantly pink between them. She gave them a quick wave of acknowledgement as they raised their glasses at her before continuing on her way.</p><p>Entering the lift, she punched the button, wondering what she was needed for now. The doors opened to the CIC where three geth platforms and Lela were busy with the terminals. She found Daemon at the front of the CIC focused on the galaxy map, a small blip in red pulling her own attention.</p><p>“Okay Daemon, what’s up?”</p><p>“Captain, we have received a request for aid from a unit tasked on a search and destroy mission of Cerberus facilities. They have a survivor that is in need of extraction and due to the unique nature of this crew they asked us to assist.”</p><p>“What do you mean the unique nature of our crew?”</p><p>“There is an individual who requires assistance there. The nature of his wounds and subsequent medical care would be best suited to a ship that has an extensive geth presence onboard as well as the unique make-up of the crew.”</p><p>Cal raised an eyebrow at that, “Is this something Dr. Tinoko will be able to handle by himself?”</p><p>“Yes Captain, the immediate trauma is of no concern. The ongoing care however will require geth expertise as well as the engineering aptitude of Creator Lela’Veezh.”</p><p>“What exactly is that supposed to mean Daemon?”</p><p>“I apologize Captain, the request was made with the intent to only provide further information to the ship that responds. This ship was specifically requested due to Spectre Tremorian and the history of the crew.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Damned secretive geth, well I’m not going to leave someone who needs help out in space.’</em>
</p><p>“Very well Daemon, set a course to the destination. I assume you have an estimated ETA?”</p><p>Daemon nodded, “We are estimating one point six cycles of travel to the station.”</p><p>“Very well. Update me if there are any changes.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>Decommissioned Cerberus Facility – Attican Traverse</strong>
</p><p>The first few days were the worst; the pain of acclimating to new limbs and joins was a tedious monotony. The geth, while excellent at their work, weren’t exactly the most supportive bunch he’d met.</p><p>Aside from the laboratory he’d woken up in and the quarters the geth had cleared, the station was a disaster. Evidence of weapons fire, burn marks, explosions and death littered the station. Later he found out that the geth had simply tossed the bodies out an airlock as cleanup, and for that at least he was thankful.</p><p>He looked back to the geth unit that had been designated to watch him, a pulse rifle always at the ready even though they had been the ones to put him back together. A broken shell of the soldier that he once was.</p><p>“So why call me Hades? I know you have my service record, and you all probably know more about me than I do at this point.”</p><p>“You are inquiring about the designation you have been given?”</p><p>He rolled his eyes, “Yes the designation you all gave me. I have a name and last I checked it hadn’t expired.”</p><p>The geth paused for a moment, clearly discussing it with the others on the station in their usual fashion.</p><p>“This designation was given because of the nature of your operations on Omega, as well as the Cerberus presence on this station. A geth style designation was deemed appropriate because of your new limbs and artificial organs. The geth that make up the crew of the SSV Artemisium recommended it. We will include all related details in your dossier when you are retrieved.”</p><p>“And how much longer until I’m <em>retrieved </em>exactly?”</p><p>“Last contact has the SSV Artemisium arriving in twenty point two hours. In that time, we will see to your remaining medical requirements, packing of equipment and transfer of credits to you and the captain of the vessel.”</p><p>“Okay well, let me do one more lap around this fucking station and you all can go back to tinkering with me.”</p><p>“As you wish Hades.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Fucking hell’</em>
</p><p>oOo</p><p>Twenty hours later Hades stood impatiently waiting for his ride off the station. The geth had finished their modifications to him and directed him towards the docking bay where they waited.</p><p>He stood next to several crates, loaded with the weaponry and supplies for the cruiser that had been called to pick him up. Four geth units stood silently waiting for the shuttle to finish its docking procedure.</p><p>
  <em>‘Can’t imagine what they’re gonna think when they see me. Three artificial limbs, more cybernetics than Admiral Shephard was rumored to have and red fucking eyes. They’re gonna shoot me the second they see me. Or start laughing at this ridiculous fucking nickname.’</em>
</p><p>The airlock hissed and slid open with nary a further sound revealing the crew that was here to give him a lift. He noted the two asari, the human and a turian standing alongside three geth platforms, all with different colorations on them.</p><p>‘<em>Asari huntresses, a turian and an Alliance captain working with the geth. Interesting.’</em></p><p>The units that had been with him stepped forward, “Captain Wolfram, Spectre Tremorian, thank you for your swift transit here. This is Hades, formerly of the Alliance Navy.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>Enis wasn’t sure what she was expecting when the airlock door opened, but it certainly wasn’t the entity in front of her. The four geth were unsurprising but the human that was leaned against a weapons crate was something else.</p><p>A quick evaluation left her uneasy. The left arm and both legs had been replaced with what she could only imagine were recovered geth limbs. The bow to the legs, while normal on a geth or quarian were unusual on a human. They gave him an odd stance, like he was ready to bolt at any moment. The eyes that watched them were almost normal except for the red iris, a clear indicator of cybernetics. The eyes stared back clearly evaluating everyone while the exposed synthetic muscles on the right arm visibly tensed.</p><p>The fact that he was wearing what looked to be a pair of cut off cargo pants and a large t-shirt that did nothing to hide the state of his body was also startling. Enis knew most humans preferred to cover up any kind of prosthetics they had if they were unable to secure a cloned limb. He looked malnourished and stressed if the bags under his eyes were any indicator, and the clothing simply hung off of his frame.</p><p>She could nearly feel the tension in the air, both parties evaluating the other.</p><p>She heard Cal answer the geth platforms, “Thank you. Poseidon, Apollo would you please assist the others in getting those crates aboard. I’d like to get underway as soon as possible.”</p><p>Enis watched, assault rifle held ready as two of the geth they had brought with them stepped forward and began assisting the other platforms with the equipment and crates.</p><p>The human had only stepped forward to move away from the crate while it was lifted into their shuttle.</p><p>“Hades? I assume that you are ready to go once we are loaded? I’d like to get you settled in and then discuss your options and plans over dinner.”</p><p>Enis watched as the figure in front of her simply raised an eyebrow, “I wasn’t expecting the hospitality but that would be much appreciated Captain Wolfram. This situation is at best strange and I know the geth platforms here are eager to continue their mission.” The voice was normal at least, no modifications to speech.</p><p>She tensed as the Captain stepped forward to offer a hand to the human, “I am sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <em>‘Polite for someone that’s clearly unsure of what to do with me. The asari look like they’re ready to shoot though. Well trained. Turian probably wants to space me, can’t get a good read on him.”</em>
</p><p>Hades took a second to look the officer over, <em>‘She doesn’t look like normal Alliance. An undercut would never make regs, and the purple highlights would give them an aneurism. Taller than I’d expect, little young to be a full captain though.’</em></p><p>“Thank you Captain. I’ve had some time to come to terms with everything.” He returned the handshake, “The geth mentioned that the name was chosen for me. It’s a joke come back to haunt me, I guess. They mentioned that the files on me would be released once we were underway.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Damned secretive bastards. Won’t lie to you, but they do like to hold all the cards.’</em>
</p><p>Cal nodded in agreement, seemingly in line with his own thoughts, “Yes they mentioned that to us as well. To that end I have to ask if you’re carrying any weapons on you or anything dangerous to my crew.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Smart.’</em>
</p><p>“No Captain, aside from the obvious physical changes I am otherwise devoid of weapons or dangers to your crew.”</p><p>“Very well. Quick introductions are in order then, this is Spectre Gailus Tremorian, and huntress’ Veyiz D’Naus and Enis Iessami. We have several more crew onboard that I’ll take you to meet later.”</p><p>Enis, he noted, was tall for an asari, probably just over six-foot he figured. She was built like an Alliance Marine, clearly someone who spent a good amount of time in a gym. Her deep purple markings on her crest and face just visible against the tone of her skin. He noted that they matched the other asari who was slightly shorter and of a slighter build. Veyiz was of the more usual blue coloring versus Enis’ violet toned skin.</p><p>The turian was tall even for his species, towering over everything else in the vicinity, black plating and brown hide seemingly sucking in the light. Hades looked at the white facial markings, not recognizing any of the usual patterns. The assault rifle was held at a ready position, clearly anticipating trouble, the yellow eyes never once moving from his position.</p><p>Hades watched as the Captain motioned to each in turn noting that each of them had never once taken their eyes off of him while the Captain had talked to him.</p><p>
  <em>‘Good crew, loyal, expecting the worst. This situation is certainly interesting.’</em>
</p><p>“I noticed that you addressed two of the platforms by name?”</p><p>“Ah, yes. We work in a joint venture with a geth contingent. Several of them have designated names for themselves. Not unlike the name they address you with. It seems the Geth have picked up a penchant for human history and mythology. Something to do with their own creation.”</p><p>Hades watched as one of the platforms stepped up, this one with dark golden markings on several plates and over his ‘head’, “Excuse me Captain but we are finished loading the cargo and are ready to depart.”</p><p>“Thank you Hephaestus. Hades…” he watched the woman give a small shake of her head at the nickname, “if there’s nothing else you require?”</p><p>Hades shook his head, “No, you did receive the credits the platforms here mentioned yes? The station had several accounts that the geth confiscated before the data was remotely wiped.”</p><p>There was a sound of omni-tools pinging and he looked down at the notification, noting that the captain did the same.</p><p>“Captain, the geth here have just transferred the credits retrieved from this station. The files mentioned have also been transferred to our drives and will be available to Hades, Spectre Tremorian and yourself as needed.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Well that wraps up this adventure. Least we’re all getting some decent money from it, Cerberus was always good for that.’</em>
</p><p>“Very well, let’s depart. I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting out of here.”</p><p>“Captain, one moment.” Everyone turned to the geth platform that had escorted Hades to the airlock, “While we understand that Hades is an uncommon nickname, it allows the use of a name to blend in with the Geth on your crew. Furthermore, all former names and aliases used by Hades have been flagged by Cerberus and several mercenary organizations. To that effect we have setup a new identity for you Hades, details will be in your files. Again, we advise that it’s not used routinely in order to protect it. Hades is a unique enough name in order to run several scrubbing programs so that we can track and eliminate any mention of the name from records.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Fuck’</em>
</p><p>Hades could feel all eyes suddenly on him at that information drop, the geth were never very subtle he'd found.</p><p>
  <em>‘Dying probably would have been the better option.’</em>
</p><p>A resigned sigh from the Captain, “Okay. Let’s go sort this shit out. Hades?”</p><p>Hades simply nodded and followed the woman through the airlock and into the new unknown.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well class got canceled and I know I left everyone on a bit of a cliffhanger so I figured I'd give this chapter early. Don't worry plenty more ahead. </p><p>Would love to hear what you think of the story so far. This is pretty different than most Mass Effect fics I know, but I'm happy people are reading it and hopefully enjoying it. Plenty more to come with the crew, so thanks for coming along for the ride.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. What's in a Name?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The crew sits down to discuss what the future holds. And what the hell is up with that name?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I know this probably wasn’t what you were expecting, but since the geth dropped that particular bit of information on us like that I’d ask that you stay in your room until we come to retrieve you.”</p>
<p>Hades had simply nodded at the Captain; she was only doing what he would have done if the tables had been turned. An unknown variable like himself wasn’t something he’d risk on a warship much less a ground team.</p>
<p>The trip had been a quick and extremely tense twenty-minute shuttle hop back to their ship. He figured they’d be on a frigate, but seeing a full cruiser was unexpected. Though the Cerberus influence easy to pick up on once they’d boarded. Everything was too neat, too comfortable, clearly meant for some level of luxury rather than the tight, cramped quarters of most alliance naval vessels. The geth presence and influence was also hard to ignore. A significant lack of personnel stations and the evidence of an AI onboard was eerie.</p>
<p>The private rooms however were a nice touch, even if the Captain had stationed two units outside his door as a precaution. The room was sparse, as expected, though the ample space and large bed were a pleasant surprise.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Cerberus always did fancy all the creature comforts. Least they didn’t lock me in a bunkroom or something awkward.’</em>
</p>
<p>Hades quickly unpacked the few items he had been able to salvage or loot from the station. Clothing had been at a premium for him, the new limbs preventing much from fitting properly.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Never thought I’d need to go shopping so badly in my life. Everything’s gonna have to be custom made or repurposed. Well better go figure out what they meant by not using my name anymore, looked like it rattled the crew pretty good.’</em>
</p>
<p>He quickly tossed the rest of his gear into a closet and grabbed the data pad that Captain Wolfram had given him and opened the first file.</p>
<p>----------------------------------------<br/>Service Record – Gunnery Sergeant Name Redacted<br/>-----------------------------------------<br/>Branch – Alliance Marines<br/>Rank – Gunnery Sergeant<br/>Pay Grade E-7<br/>Date Departed Service – 2185<br/>Date Entered Service – 2175<br/>Born – 2160</p>
<p>Assigned Command – Special Operations</p>
<p>Training – Heavy Weapons Specialist, Tactics, Guerilla Warfare</p>
<p>Discharge – Dishonorable</p>
<p>Medals &amp; Awards – Removed prior to discharge</p>
<p>----------------------------------------</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Damn, that’s not gonna look good to anyone.’</em>
</p>
<p>The rest of the record went on to discuss typical issues like basic training, promotion dates and ship deployments. What surprised him most was the detailed records that the geth had somehow either hacked or declassified that outlined some of his more interesting operations. Names and dates were still redacted but there was a clear story that could be followed.</p>
<p>The files marked ‘Omega, Hades, Underworld: 2185-2200’ and ‘Cerberus: 2203-2206’ were disconcerting though. The name change wasn’t going to be well received, but nothing could help it. The standing hits out on his life and the security concerns by the Alliance required it.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Fifteen years spent on Omega, and all I get is a shitty nickname. Serves me right.’</em>
</p>
<p>Opening it only confirmed his fears as he began reading through a patchy history of his past.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>The boarding party had settled down in the mess hall, a desire to know what the hell they had gotten into overriding much discussion while they read through the dossier of their new guest.</p>
<p>“What do you make of this Gailus?” Enis couldn’t help but ask, the information she was reading sounded like bad fiction, or something out of a human spy novel.</p>
<p>“I think the geth wouldn’t lie to us like this. They were upfront about the security concerns and I can see why. The designation they gave him is fitting if his record on Omega is to be believed. He’d be a powerful asset for us if he’s willing to put the time in.”</p>
<p>“You can’t be serious; you want to recruit him?” Enis couldn’t keep the slight disbelief from her voice.</p>
<p>The turian looked up at her then around to Veyiz and Calico, “I think his skill set is exactly what I’d be looking for if I was organizing a team to perform the kind of missions we do. The obvious issues aside, he was a soldier and then worked for the Pirate Queen directly if this is to be believed. That takes a certain kind of individual.”</p>
<p>Calico spoke up this time, “Alliance Commandos were a unique breed in the military. We’d be foolish to not at least ask him what he wants out of this. If even half of his mercenary record is correct, then he’s exactly the type of person we’re looking for.”</p>
<p>Enis simply nodded and looked to her fellow huntress for her thoughts.</p>
<p>“Realistically, aside from the life-span difference, his record doesn’t read much different than most asari commandos. Lots of us spent time as mercenaries or other occupations before returning to our calling.”</p>
<p>
  <em>‘I have to give her that point, it’s not like either of us are the best examples of a typical commando unit.’</em>
</p>
<p>Calico nodded “Okay let’s bring him down and we can have a conversation with him. Artemisium would you have Hades escorted down. We’ll be in the conference room.”</p>
<p>“At once Captain, our guest will be down shortly.” The AI had decided that it would respond to the ship’s name, saying that it was for all purposes the ship when it was installed.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Hades found himself being escorted to what he assumed was the ships conference room. It was well furnished, a large oval table took up the center of the room, with plush chairs surrounding it. A hologram projector hung from the ceiling and several vid screens decorated the walls. The crew that had met him on that Cerberus station was sitting at table watching him expectantly.</p>
<p>
  <em>'Wonder where the krogan who was in the shuttle bay is. Probably isn’t worried about whatever comes out of this.’</em>
</p>
<p>“Please have a seat, would you like anything to drink?” This came from Calico, unexpected though welcome.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t say no to water, though if the data-pads in front of you are any indication everyone may want to get something stronger.”</p>
<p>He saw the flick of a mandible and several small smirks on the crew and he figured that was at least a good enough icebreaker for the moment.</p>
<p>Calico motioned briefly at the table where he finally noticed the glasses and water pitcher set out. The others had a variety of drinks in front of them and the feeling that this wasn’t a standard Alliance outfit only grew.</p>
<p>The geth that had escorted him down took positions in the room where they would be able to observe him while maintaining a clear line of fire. He sat and poured himself a glass of water waiting for the other parties to make the first move. He wanted to see what they started with first.</p>
<p>“I suppose we should get the obvious out of the way. The Omega and Cerberus files are interesting to say the least. What I want to ask is what’s going on with the name? I wouldn’t think the Alliance would redact your name from your records like that. And I think we’d all like to know what the name Hades is about.”</p>
<p>Hades sighed running a hand over his face; he wasn’t entirely surprised but the fact that they didn’t accuse him of anything was a good start.</p>
<p>“To start I should say that when entering Alliance Spec Ops, they scrub your existence. New identities are created, and our old ones become carefully guarded secrets. I became the equivalent of John Doe to the Alliance.”</p>
<p>“As for the name Hades much like your geth platforms here, I’ve found nearly all other species to be fascinated with the historical and religious records of Earth. In particular, the Greek history seems to be of substantial interest along with the Roman history. I’m guessing none of you really understand the reference to Hades?”</p>
<p>Hades took a moment to look around the table and only saw negative responses, “Okay so Hades was the god of the Underworld in ancient Greek mythology. My team and I operated out of a territory on Omega that Aria called Underworld. Aria apparently took an odd interest of that era in our history, at least for names, and her research led her to the various old Earth religions. Since she already owned Afterlife, she wanted Underworld as well.”</p>
<p>Hades looked on as the crew shook their heads and laughed quietly to themselves, clearly Aria’s tendencies were well known here. He paused to look over at the geth platforms that hadn’t moved since he’d been brought down.</p>
<p>“I was the face of our little group, humans being fairly expendable to Aria, so I became ‘Hades’ as a joke. Only a handful of us really knew what Hades meant, most others just thought it was an odd name. It helped that we all wore armor and helmets anytime we were working so no one knew who or what Hades was. If the geth had my records I can imagine why they’d think it was a good nickname to go with. Especially since so many of the platforms here share the same naming scheme.”</p>
<p>There were more quiet chuckles around the table before things turned serious again. He was thankful that the naming issue went over so smoothly, the endless amount of shit his former team had given him still hadn’t been forgotten.</p>
<p>“So that leads us to your Alliance discharge. Not often do I see someone who was clearly as talented as you get a dishonorable discharge. There’s got to be a story behind that.”<br/>Hades nodded at Cal’s question.</p>
<p>“The problem with training and promoting Special Operations units is that routinely we’re required to make decisions that if revealed to the public would make everyone view us as the villain. We all know that things aren’t always that black and white. I had a lot of contacts within the less reputable side of the universe and word got out. Things escalated and eventually it got to a point where they could either bury me in a mountain of red-tape and discharge papers or it was going to leak. Reapers or no, the Alliance couldn’t afford my name, real or not, in their books.”</p>
<p>“So, you went to Omega?”</p>
<p>Hades looked over at the black plated turian, Gailus, who had remained somewhat impassive so far, “Yea the same contacts I had set me up with a merc group there. Spent fifteen years there all together, ten working under Aria specifically.”</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Interesting markings, they look almost like a skull.’</em>
</p>
<p>“You mean you were a hit-squad for Aria T’Loak.”</p>
<p>This from the violet asari who had been introduced as Enis who while lacking the usual judgmental tone, seemed intent on his answer.</p>
<p>“Spending fifteen years solely as a ‘hit squad’ on Omega would be simplifying things quite a bit. That was a part of what we did, but there was quite a bit of nuance to it. We were also in charge of weapons shipments, training, and some off-station work. There was a lot of clean-up to do after the invasion and the end of the Reapers.”</p>
<p>He noted that Enis didn’t show any kind of reaction to that, only nodded at the information.</p>
<p>He watched the Captain pick up a data pad and scroll through it, “Then you were recruited by a private security firm on Illium?</p>
<p>“Yea, three years as private security and bodyguard duty. I got out of Omega because I wanted to retire in a good enough condition to spend the credits I’d saved. I was still technically on a contract basis with Aria. I operated the safehouses and resources she kept there, allowed me to step back from Omega quite a bit.”</p>
<p>He took a sip of his water, buying a few seconds to figure out how to explain the Cerberus work without giving too much away.</p>
<p>“I was recruited directly from the security firm by a corporation looking to hire a security director. I fit their bill and they offered a hell of an incentive to join. By the time I found out who they were I was in too deep to simply get out. Cerberus was supposed to be dead anyways.”</p>
<p>Calico nodded, “Cerberus is apparently still alive and kicking, though thankfully with their leader dead they’re not nearly the same organization. Still a bunch of bastards.”</p>
<p>Hades took another sip of his water trying to organize his thoughts.</p>
<p>“Well that lesson was learned the hard way. I found out that they weren’t the company I thought they were and ended up in a bad spot. They weren’t happy about it. That ended up in a firefight. Caught a grenade. My armor was what saved me, though the cost was obviously high.”</p>
<p>He raised his left arm, synthetic muscles visible and flexing and watched the reactions around the table. He stared for a moment at the three-digit hand, still so foreign yet now familiar to him.</p>
<p>Calico maintained her disciplined attitude while the others all shared a similar look of pity and certain understanding.</p>
<p>“Look Captain…”</p>
<p>“Please call me Calico, we don’t stand on much formality here. Especially when we’re all apparently going to have to call you Hades from now on.”</p>
<p>“Spirits be damned I hate that. Cerberus would most likely have all of my Alliance information, and if they’re looking for me, they’ll have passed it on to the info brokers and merc companies.”<br/>“So, you agree that using any of your old names would be a security risk?”</p>
<p>Hades looked to Calico, “I agree with the geth that the old me is better off dead. Even if I’ve already lost nearly everything that was me. Until we figure out how much trouble I’m actually in we have to assume everything I was got burned. If it comes out that my name is usable, we can go down that road, for now like the geth said it’s probably best to not bring it up.”</p>
<p>Calico nodded, “Okay, that makes sense to me. Gailus and I can put out feelers at a later date. We’ll have to figure out how interconnected Cerberus is still.”</p>
<p>Calico looked down at her data-pad again scrolling through the information within.<br/>“The program, the one they were putting you through, was designed to create custom soldiers. Gene therapy, extensive cybernetics, control chips and more from the looks of it. There were plans in there to replace the limbs you lost.”</p>
<p>Hades closed his eyes and breathed slowly, an attempt to calm his frayed nerves. Memories of the science team getting his body and their exclamations of his condition were not pleasant. Bit by bit they’d told him what they planned to do to him, the equivalent of a weaponized corpse. No longer in control of his own body.</p>
<p>“The geth saw an opportunity to repair me, I guess. The bio fabricators had been fragged so they made do with what they had. I was awake for a lot of what Cerberus did, and they took great pleasure in telling me all about it. There are gaps I don’t remember, things that don’t add up. The scientists left a lot unfinished as well, I think they were using me as a test platform if I read that file right. I spent roughly two years as a lab experiment for them.”</p>
<p>The horror was evident on nearly everyone’s face. The kind of genetic modification he’d undergone was universally illegal, but research black sites existed that would have allowed Cerberus to continue their experiments. With most extensive gene therapies taking years to produce the required changes, no one could really imagine what Cerberus had planned to do with Hades in the meantime.</p>
<p>“So, I have to ask what your plan with me is. You didn’t simply shoot me on sight, which is a relief, but I can’t see why you’d want to keep someone like me around after reading that dossier.”</p>
<p>It was Gailus that spoke up first, “As a Council Spectre I am in a unique position to offer you a position on the crew. Our mission is to provide security to the outer colonies and systems, combating piracy, terrorism, and any remaining Cerberus outposts. I think you’d be uniquely motivated to assist us with that goal.”</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Enis watched the human’s reaction, wondering how he’d react to being offered a job. She wasn’t disappointed when surprise and shock rolled through his expressions before it settled on disbelief.</p>
<p>“I appreciate the offer, but from what I saw I’m at least six weeks from being mission capable to any extent. More to get back to the shape I once was. The geth were able to replace a lot, but they weren’t able to really fix much. I still can’t run, the processing for the limbs still needs coding and Spirits know what else.”</p>
<p>She watched Hades shrink into himself a little bit at the admission. She understood the feeling, going from a proud soldier to something like this would be tough. His continued use of the turian phrase of ‘Spirits’ was something she tucked away for later.</p>
<p>“And what if we offered to help you with all of that? Our doctor is top rate, and we have an excellent engineer onboard. That’s not to mention the geth units with us that can help with the finer details.”</p>
<p><em>‘How badly do you want him to join us Gailus?’</em> Enis couldn’t help the glance she sent the turian’s way, the offer was somewhat out of character for him.</p>
<p>“Hades,” this from Calico, “The way I see it your options are limited. You go back to populated space your name gets out and someone’s bound to put a bounty on your head. You go to Omega in your condition and you won’t last a day. Stay with us and you at least get a bed and some help. Further down the road you repay us by helping out.”</p>
<p>Enis couldn’t help but stare at Calico, the brutal honesty wasn’t unusual, but rather unexpected given the circumstances. She turned to study Hades for a moment, taking in the dark circles under his eyes, the roughly shaved hair and red eyes that were so out of place.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Why would anyone not provide an actual eye color for the cybernetics. Was it to make him standout forever?’</em>
</p>
<p>“Well when you put it that way Captain, there’s really nothing else I can do besides accept. I have to ask though; you have an Alliance rank, but this clearly isn’t an Alliance vessel in the normal sense.”</p>
<p>Enis felt herself smile at the chuckles that followed, <em>‘No this is definitely not a regular ship Hades, welcome to the Jolly Roger and her nefarious crew.’</em></p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>“You’d be right, we’re a joint venture between the Council, Alliance and the Geth Protectorate. Gailus and I knew each other before the Reaper conflict, and we worked together during that time. After everything settled and we got the relays back up, a Cerberus shipyard was found. There were several ships that were in the process of repair or completion. The demand for space worthy vessels was high and so they were repaired and given to several Spectres for immediate usage. Gailus and I were chosen for this one.”</p>
<p>Hades simply raised his eyebrows at the information.</p>
<p>“So, with help from the geth and a ton of automation for the ship systems, we were able to take a cruiser that required a crew of nearly three hundred and operate it on almost half. We have roughly one-hundred and fifty geth platforms with us and a full geth AI running the ship.”</p>
<p>Hades wasn’t sure what to think, “So you guys got the keys to a Cerberus cruiser, a small army and unlimited flexibility with the Spectre status. Consider me impressed.”</p>
<p>He watched as the crew seemed to relax in front of him, both asari wearing small smiles and Cal nearly beaming at him. Gailus had flicked a mandible but was otherwise still maintaining a poker face.</p>
<p>“Well our mission is technically to support the outer systems and provide security to colonies that request aid. We also do a bit of anti-piracy operations and if we get intel on a Cerberus outpost, we like to eliminate it.” Hades looked at Gailus as the turian spoke, the deep flanging of his species seemingly proud in its tone.</p>
<p>“I see. And how did you two wind up working for Calico and Gailus?” Hades directed the question towards Enis and Veyiz who had so far been quiet through the conversations.</p>
<p>Veyiz spoke first, “Gailus recruited me. We had met previously, and I was finishing up some schooling at Armali University. I was going to go back to my commando unit but figured the opportunity to travel like this was worth it. Also, the promise of action was hard to give up.”</p>
<p>Hades nodded. “And you? It’s Enis right?” he asked turning towards the violet colored asari.</p>
<p>“It is. I was on Illium for a time. The matriarch of my commando unit contacted me about this position. She had found out Veyiz was working here and figured we’d like to reunite. We were in the same unit for a century and I was eager to see her again.”</p>
<p>Hades wouldn’t admit it under torture but the deeper raspy tone of Enis was soothing to his nerves. It radiated confidence and calmness that he clung to as he felt old terrors loom in the back of his mind.</p>
<p>“So why me? You could hire any number of mercenaries or soldiers or get the Alliance to get you a team. You don’t need someone like me on this.” He directed the question at Gailus and watched the turian’s expression for any clues.</p>
<p>“You have a skillset that we’d like to use. We’re always on the lookout for solid talent, and you fit that bill pretty well. We’ve found that flexibility in operations is a tough quality to find.”</p>
<p>Hades felt that Gailus was sincere enough in that answer. Someone with his expertise would cost a fortune on the open market to hire, not that he really had a choice.</p>
<p>“Well not like I have much of a choice at the moment. Walking still hurts and Cal is right, I wouldn’t last a day out in the open.”</p>
<p>He watched Calico smile at him and returned the handshake Gailus offered, “Welcome to the SSV Artemisium Hades.”</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Well this should be a hell of a memoir if I live long enough to write about it.’</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks to all who are reading and enjoying. There's a lot of universe to setup in this post-Reaper scenario so I'm really trying to focus on the world building a bit before digging into the action again. Would love thoughts or commentary on the story so far.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Meeting the Doctor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Hades gets a tour of the ship, meets the Doctor, finds not all quarians have a shotgun and learns a bit more about the crew.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the job offer the crew had dispersed. Gailus went to the CIC and the two commandos mentioned something about working on their weapons with Crar. Calico gave him a brief tour, the cruiser very similar in design to Alliance vessels, just with more conveniences.</p><p>There were fifteen decks on the ship, many of them inactive or unused due to the geth presence and lack of required living space or works stations. One of them had been dedicated to the geth AI and required hardware. He had already seen the officers’ quarters, which was situated right above the ship’s Combat Information Center and cockpit, both settled deeper inside the ship to increase survivability. The usual cockpit location had been turned into a sumptuous forward lounge that was depressurized and sealed under combat conditions, but it allowed for a near wall to wall view of space. The geth had promptly reconfigured the ship upon seeing the forward cockpit saying they didn’t need windows.</p><p>The cockpit as rebuilt was designed around a virtual reality system that would allow the crew to interact directly with the ship as needed. Exterior sensors and cameras provided better feedback than simply windows, and the geth were able to interface with the ship directly.</p><p>The ship was also home to an extensive crew deck that offered a well-appointed recreation center, gym, and a running track as well as a variety of unused rooms that now held storage. A large kitchen and mess hall were on this deck, similarly unused in favor of the smaller one by the officers’ quarters.</p><p>The hangar bay was split between two decks, a half portion above to house the armory and equipment and a weapons storage area. Below that half-deck was general cargo and the shuttles and fighters the cruiser carried with it. The deck above the hangar bay was an extensive medical and trauma care center, designed for the usual crew complement and extra marine contingent that would accompany the ship.</p><p>“If you don’t mind, I’d like to have our doctor take a look at you. I want to get his opinion on the data we were sent as well as ensure that you don’t present any issues for our resident quarian engineer. She’s working on transitioning out of the need for an enviro-suit, so we’ll get you up-to-date immune boosters and the like.”</p><p>Hades nodded in acceptance, “Of course Captain.”</p><p>He saw Calico raise an eyebrow at the title but didn’t bother to correct him. They headed for the lift to go up a deck to the medical bay where Calico told him that their doctor, a human who studied medicine on the Citadel, would be waiting.</p><p>The medical deck, being designed for a larger crew, was massive. Though many labs and rooms were darkened and unused like much of the ship. Several geth platforms could be seen in several of the rooms and Calico explained they were working on further refinements for quarian immunology studies with the larger geth Collective.</p><p>Towards the middle of the deck they found an older man with salt and pepper hair sitting at a desk, information scrolling over his terminal. The bay held several medical beds and surgery suites as well as what Hades couldn’t identify that he assumed was geth in origin.</p><p>The doctor looked up at the chime that sounded when they entered the room, and he ran a quick but knowing eye over Hades’ form.</p><p>“Dr. Martin Tinoko this is Hades, our newest member. If you don’t mind doing a full exam for him and see if there’s anything that is of immediate concern. I trust you got the medical files from the geth?”</p><p>“Ah, good to meet the new recruit. I did receive the medical reports, though due to their nature I’m still working through much of the information. There’s a lot to go through, especially with such an active service history.”</p><p>The doctor motioned for him to take a seat on one of the nearby stools and nodded at the question. “The Alliance did a number on you before your time with Cerberus and then the geth.”</p><p>Hades only nodded, the Alliance was well known for their bio-augmentations and he’d been through a fair number of hospital visits before he had most of his limbs removed.</p><p>“So doc, what are we looking at in terms of recovery?” This from Calico who had taken a seat at the doctor’s desk and was watching Tinoko perform a quick exam.</p><p>“Well he received extensive reconstructive surgery. Replaced the left arm at the shoulder, right arm has partial muscle replacement. Both legs were rebuilt at the hip with geth synthetic musculature and parts. Cybernetics include the eyes, several muscle and bone connections, auditory implants as well as the typical Alliance modifications. There’s also a spinal tap that connects his new limbs to his nervous system. We’re looking at a lot of fine tuning, ensuring proper connections of limbs and nervous system as well as making sure Cerberus didn’t leave anything strange in there.”</p><p>Hades could feel himself starting to feel the creep of old fears and anxiety. The geth had explained a lot of what happened, but it was different to hear the clinical tone of the doctor repeat everything. Flashes of the surgeries and the Cerberus scientists came to the forefront. He felt his vision narrow as he stared at the floor, sweat beading on his forehead and a surge of adrenaline as his body reacted.</p><p>“Hades? Are you okay?”</p><p>Hades saw the doctor talking, heard the words as a light was shined into his eyes and the glow of an omni washed over him. The sudden injection into his right arm and his world faded to quiet and peace.</p><p>oOo</p><p>“What just happened?”</p><p>“I believe that he had a panic attack, or some kind of anxiety issue. His vitals spiked and his heart rate was going through the roof. I’d guess everything finally caught up with him if the geth didn’t report anything like this earlier.”</p><p>“How bad is it?” Cal had stood aside while Tinoko had several geth come in to move Hades to a bed rather than the exam table he had slumped over on.</p><p>“Substantial trauma and past records would indicate a potential for neurological stressors. Traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and possible for more. He’s a mess Cal, he’s got at least six weeks to any kind of physical recovery, his augments will help with that. But I can’t say for certain when he’s truly going to be okay. Mental recovery is going to be an ongoing process for him.”</p><p>Calico watched as the doctor ran a scan over the prostrate form of Hades.</p><p>“I can consult with Lela for the further integration of the cybernetics and geth parts. Looks like Cerberus was pretty deep into some cybernetic research, some of the things they implanted are complete but inactive. We’ll have to see exactly what they do. I’m not sure if you know, but the Alliance Special Operations program uses extensive Binary Helix packages for military use. I have to see exactly what he had done to him and if there’s anything else we need to monitor.”</p><p>Calico watched the steady rise and fall of Hades breathing. “Thanks Doc. Let us know what we can do, no one deserves to be a medical experiment.”</p><p>“Of course Cal. I’ll keep him sedated for a time, the scans show he’s malnourished, dehydrated, and sleep deprived. Give him a few days to get back on his new feet.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>Hades felt like he was pulling himself out of a tar pit, the slow ascent to wakefulness was troubling.</p><p>
  <em>‘Must have really fucked up, haven’t been hit with stuff this good in a while’</em>
</p><p>He cracked his eyelids open, the cybernetic eyes compensating for the light levels in the room ensuring that he wasn’t blinded. There was a noise to his right but moving wasn’t something he really felt he wanted to attempt.</p><p>“How are you feeling? Tinoko said you would be groggy.”</p><p>The synthetic sounding voice drove him to more wakefulness. Rolling his head, he saw a quarian in a red and black enviro-suit with a red faceplate pointed his direction. Golden accents decorated the smaller pieces and straps on her suit.</p><p>Hades tried to speak but only ended up coughing as his lungs decided not to cooperate. He saw the quarian stand and grab a container of water that had a straw attached to it. She lifted it to his mouth so that he could drink, the cool water driving away the cotton balls that had taken up residence in his mouth.</p><p>“Dr. Tinoko said the drowsiness and thirst is normal. You’ve been asleep for a few days. My name is Lela’Veezh nar Radin by the way, feel free to call me Lela. Everyone else does.”</p><p>Hades finally forced himself to focus and acknowledge his surroundings. The quarian had returned to her seat after helping him with the water.</p><p>“Hades. Thank you for the water, not that I’m ungrateful, but why are you here?” He cringed at the rasp of an unused voice and cleared his throat again.</p><p>“I can imagine waking up to see me would be odd. Calico didn’t want you to wake up alone. The doctor told us you’d be up soon, so we’ve been keeping an eye out. I offered to stay so he could go eat. I can’t exactly remove my mask until you complete the immunization therapy, so I figured I’d see what all the fuss was about.”</p><p>“Heh. Well can’t really blame you for that. I still don’t understand what the fuss is about myself. Without trying to push the stereotype, I’m guessing you’re the engineer Calico mentioned?”</p><p>“Yes. Though that’s practically the entirety of the Migrant Fleet, nearly everyone is trained in some sort of tech or engineering skill. I worked quite a bit with the geth after Rannoch was returned to us.”</p><p>Hades nodded, “So how’d you end up with this lot?”</p><p>“I was part of the geth initiative with the Council and Alliance. I was on Rannoch when volunteers were called for. The geth asked for electronics experts and engineers, and I fit the requirements.”</p><p>“This is something you volunteered for?”</p><p>“For the most part. The admiralty called it an exchange, the geth are helping us in so many ways that having our people assist them in things like this is a way to repay that. I found that as much as I loved Rannoch, I spent so much of my life on a ship, it was strange to be on solid ground. Besides, we owe the geth so much after Legion made his sacrifice and Admiral Shepard brought peace between us.”</p><p>Hades nodded again, hissing when he brought his left arm up to rub his face.</p><p>“Are you in pain?”</p><p>He looked over to see the quarian leaning towards him, eyes glowing behind her mask. “Yea, the limbs work well enough, but some days it’s painful, feels like somethings out of alignment or pulling weirdly. The geth mentioned it may take a while to get everything to settle.”</p><p>The synthetic voice roused him from his internal musings, “Well I may be able to help you with that. I worked closely with our cybernetics teams when the geth offered their assistance in getting our immune systems repaired. I was also a suit tech and helped with the sensory input. A lot of the sensory input and functionality is the same between the geth synthetic muscle and our suits, so ensuring everything was in sync would probably help with the sensitivity.”</p><p>Hades raised an eyebrow at her, “As much as I appreciate your offer, I’ve found that no one does anything for free.” He could almost feel the smile through the quarian’s mask.</p><p>“You would be right. I’m not exactly a soldier. So, I plan on using you as cover a lot if I’m ever needed to go off-ship. And I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to study exactly what it is that the geth did to you.”</p><p>He chuckled at the honesty, “Ruthless, I like it. I can live with being your bodyguard if it means I’m able to function properly again.”</p><p>“Well then, welcome aboard, we have a lot of work ahead of us to get you back to fighting shape.”</p><p>“Oh joy.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>The next few days passed in a blur for Hades. The good doctor had told him about the various issues plaguing him and forced him to stay in bed. Lela dropped by several times to discuss the limb pains and Hades met several of the geth platforms on the ship through her visits. The one known as Daemon was a particular favorite. The geth platform seemed to express more of a personality than the others, and it helped that it was particularly forthcoming with answers.  They were able to discuss in detail what had happened to him and the work that was yet to be finished.</p><p>While his limbs had been replaced by the geth, Cerberus had done a number of other augmentations that the geth weren’t concerned with. There were unexplained implants and cybernetics that functioned without problem but had no real reason for existing. The geth had promised they would dig into the medical records to ensure that there were no further issues.</p><p>The spinal implant that transmitted his movements to the new limbs required testing and tuning that had to be done while he was awake. It meant he spent a lot of time with a very patient doctor and an endlessly inquisitive quarian. Hades and Lela built a quick friendship over the fact that they were required to spent long periods of the days together. If he was honest with himself it was nice to have someone to talk with about all of it that was so excited to help.</p><p>“Okay, how does that feel?”</p><p>Hades rotated his arm, the muscles flexing but not feeling anything dissimilar to how his right arm usually felt. Lela had been working on the synchronicity between his spinal implant and limbs and finally had the last of the kinks worked out for his arm.</p><p>“Like normal, I don’t get the usual flinch when I move it.”</p><p>He watched as Lela’s eyes seemed to brighten behind the mask, “Perfect, now we just need to get those legs working again and you can start working on getting out of here finally!”</p><p>Hades just rolled his eyes, the quarian was always excited when she got to work on his new parts. She had begun work as soon as doctor Tinoko had allowed him up from the bed. He’d gotten a severe warning about his malnutrition and dehydration and had been kept lightly sedated for a few days to allow his body to recover. The doctor had also done a full decontamination on him as well so that Lela would be able to function without her helmet on. That had been surprising to hear as he hadn’t kept up with much of the Rannoch or Quarian rebuilding efforts. </p><p>With the help of medi-gel the majority of the bruising and swelling had gone down where the new synthetic muscles interacted with his own body. The spinal implant had helped connect the new limbs and sensory nodes to his own nervous system and allowed him the same control as he would normally have had.</p><p>“So, no hang-ups or twitches? And you can feel this properly?”</p><p>Snapping from his thoughts Hades realized that Lela had laid a hand on his bare arm and he realized that it didn’t feel like a separate limb anymore. He could feel the three digits of her hand pressing against the synthetic muscle, and more importantly the subtle textures of her suit. Dialing in the sensitivity had taken nearly a full day for them.</p><p>“Yea, that feels normal, not like last time when there was such a distinct difference. Also, less sensitive than before which is nice.”</p><p>They’d found that the geth were used to much more sensory input than a normal biological being, and they’d had to tune the faux nervous system to compensate for the over-stimulation.</p><p>“Okay and how is the feeling between the synth and flesh?” Hades watched as Lela traced a digit over the reddened seam of his shoulder where the new arm connected. It had been odd at first having to remove his shirt for their sessions, but Lela never displayed any issues with it and he quickly grew to be used to it.</p><p>“It’s still sore, but the meds and gel are helping. The doc said the line should go away completely in time and there won’t be a scar to really tell what starts and ends where.”</p><p>“Well that’s some good news at least. If you’re up to it we can start on your legs, but you’ll need to walk around a bit. Not sure if you’re feeling up to that quite yet.”</p><p>“Well the sooner we start the sooner we finish, and I can start on getting back into shape. The doc said I need to put some weight back on.”</p><p>He watched Lela nod at him, though he could tell she was staring at his figure appraisingly. “I would have expected you to be in worse shape honestly. I doubt Cerberus was really doing their best to keep you in good shape.”</p><p>“Yea, well small favors I suppose.”</p><p>He watched the quarian bring up her omni-tool and began the process to re-tune his legs.</p><p>“You might feel a twitch…”</p><p>Hades grunted as his right leg involuntarily kicked up and he swore he heard Lela doing her best to muffle a giggle behind her mask.</p><p>“Soon as we get this taken care of, we can get you to the mess hall for dinner. I think Enis is cooking tonight, and she’s definitely the one you want cooking. Cal tends to burn a salad.”</p><p>Hades chuckled along with the engineer as she continued with her work.</p><p>“Some real food does sound good and being able to walk confidently again would be nice as well.”</p><p>Hades gave Lela his best unamused expression as left leg spasmed quickly, “We’ll get there eventually.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>Dinner was a much-welcomed reprieve from his time in the medical bay. The conversation was lively, and it gave Hades a much-needed view into the dynamics of the crew. Enis had turned out to be an exceptional cook and the good-natured ribbing of Calico’s past cooking exploits brought a smile to everyone’s faces.</p><p>The crew seemed more like a family than a truly organized fighting force and Hades felt himself relax just a smidge around the conversation. He was grateful to see that the food wasn’t simply rations or the typical military meals that he’d survived on. One advantage of being on a cruiser with minimal crew meant they had more freedom in the stasis lockers for real food.</p><p>Lela had sat next to him, and he had done his level best not to stare when she removed her mask to eat. The maroon hair and reddish skin tone were fascinating in and of themselves, but the similarities to asari and humans were surprising. More noticeable were the cybernetics dotting her face, faint lines reminiscent of wispy tendrils lay on both sides of her face and cheeks with two lines coming up from where her brow would be into her hairline. The glow from her eyes was also unique, but he remembered that Quarians were able to see a different light spectrum than most other species. What had caught his eye though were the golden markings around her eyes, similar to some of the facial markings he’d seen on older asari.</p><p>He shook his head before he caught everyone smirking at him, clearly this was a common reaction on the ship.</p><p>“Hades, we figured that the crew is due some shore-leave soon and we need to get you some supplies. Not sure we really have anything that fits you on-board. You have an apartment anywhere or someplace we should look towards?”</p><p>Hades looked up at Gailus, the conversation quieting around him. “Nothing that I’d call home. I’m sure I have some stuff in storage back on Omega, but other than that anything I’d need I’ll have to get made. Armor included.”</p><p>“Can’t imagine any armor really fitting you correctly anymore.” This from Veyiz who was looking at him with a concerned expression.</p><p>Hades eyed his left hand as he rested his elbow on the table, “Yea that’s going to be a problem, we had custom outfitters on Omega, and I know there were a few on Nos Astra when I worked there.”</p><p>“We may be able to modify geth or turian designs for your legs, but you’d need a regular torso pieces and that arm is gonna take some doing as well.” Veyiz had shifted her attention to his arm as well.</p><p>Lela spoke up at that, “You could probably talk to Daemon about get plating options, or how they deal with protection. Veyiz and I can probably retro-fit the upper and arm pieces and a helmet won’t need any modifications.”</p><p>“Lela’s right, the geth can help with the legs at least. And I can help with the other armor modifications if we get something to work close enough.”</p><p>Hades turned to Veyiz, “I appreciate the offer. Soon as I’m actually capable of doing anything again we can start sorting that out.”</p><p>“Can you trust your team after all this time?”</p><p>Hades turned to Enis as she asked, the truth of her question stabbing into the little piece of hope that he had left about his past. He looked away for a moment, considering the question and the implications it brought.</p><p>“My team’s handler would be the person to talk with. Aria’s right hand as it were. When we decide to dock, I’ll send a message to her and let her know of the situation. We can sort out the rest after that.”</p><p>Enis nodded in agreement, “Once you’re up to it we’ll get you and Crar together to sort out a kit for weapons. Between Cal and Gailus we should be able to get you anything you’re used to using.”</p><p>Hades desperately wanted to ask what exactly it was this crew got up to that they were willing to go to these lengths to help him. There was no way a legitimate operation would hire someone like him, much less provide him with the level of support and equipment that would be needed.</p><p>
  <em>'Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that I suppose.’</em>
</p><p>“I have to say I’m not exactly looking forward to how much I’m going to owe all of you once this is over.”</p><p>Quiet laughter flowed around the table. “Don’t worry, we just plan on putting that new name of yours to good use.”</p><p>The look Cal gave him made Hades rethink his initial evaluation of the captain. She was not someone he’d like to meet in a dark alley under any circumstances.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey all, thanks for reading. I know this story is a little off the rails, but I promise the action will ramp up again relatively soon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Offer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hades meets his limits and later receives an offer with an interesting catch.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hades was exhausted. Sweat was dripping into his eyes and his limbs felt heavy and uncoordinated. It had been three weeks since he had been able to exit the medical bay under his own power and Lela had immediately started her work and part of his rehab.</p><p>She had proven to be a taskmaster once he was able to move around easily. She would brook no argument about delaying the acclimation to his new limbs and anytime she could, she had him running on the track space near the gym. They had started slowly, calibrations needed to be made and sensors tuned, but once that was accomplished the quarian had wanted to see what her work had wrought.</p><p>They had found that the new legs and height had changed his running pattern and while he would eventually be faster than a typical human due to the synthetic muscles it was going to take time to really learn how to pace it. The extra inches the geth legs added also didn’t help, going from a regular five-foot eleven to six-foot three had been a unique change. The new running motion had also given him problems more than a few times and Crar had gotten plenty of enjoyment from watching the “silly pyjack” relearning to run.</p><p>Cal and Lela had only ever offered words of support while the two huntresses alternated between laughter and picking him up off the ground when something went wrong. Gailus had actually helped the most, showing him the slight bounding motion turians used to propel themselves, and while that had provided much entertainment for everyone it seemed to be working.</p><p>“One more lap and we’ll be done for the day. You look like you’re about to drop.”</p><p>Hades huffed, hands on his thighs and breathing deeply. “I can’t believe I’m this out of shape, I knew it would be bad but it’s not that far to run, I used to be able to run twenty klicks before I got this tired.”</p><p>“Well we all knew this was going to a long recovery. You were a lab experiment for two years. You can’t expect everything to just come back to you.”</p><p>“Thanks for the pep-talk Lela. Remind me to comfort you next time you get a sinus infection.”</p><p>Lela only laughed and smacked him on the shoulder with a solid ‘thwap’. Hades had found out that quarians were much stronger than he would have expected from such a slight race.</p><p>“Alright get going, one more lap and I’ll double check the settings and then you can stop and go figure out your weapons like I know you want to.”</p><p>“Aww Lela, you know just the key to my blackened heart.”</p><p>“Go you bosh’tet. You’re some sort of badass commando, at least act like it.”</p><p>Hades smirked and gave her a crooked salute before stuttering off for the last lap of the day. He felt the stretch of his new synthetic muscles against his skin, the sensations of running still so odd. His time in the Alliance had prepared them for marathon levels of training, but now just running a quick lap made him wish for Lela to put him out of his misery.</p><p>The two years he had spent on an operating table or in stasis meant that much of his usual muscle mass had been lost. His Alliance augments would take care of the majority of it given time, and the new limbs ensured that he was able to move well enough, but his stamina needed a kick in the pants or he wouldn’t be good to anyone. He had completed seven laps so far, and this would be his eight, but he felt like he was dragging a Mako behind him with every step.</p><p>Dr. Tinoko had assured him that with the proper exercise, a high calorie intake and some time that he’d be back in shape with no lasting issues. It had been difficult to accept just how much Cerberus had stolen from him, and how long it would take to gain it back.</p><p>His jog wasn’t anything to be impressed with, but it was certainly faster than the hobble he had managed his first week. The standard four-hundred meter track meant he’d tried to maintain his usual minute-thirty pacing, but quickly realized that he’d need to slow down to conserve his energy and now he was happy with a three-minute lap.</p><p>Driving the thoughts of doubt from his head he pushed on, willing himself to move just a bit faster to beat his last lap time.</p><p>
  <em>'I am a fucking commando! Cerberus did not change that! I am fucking better than this! Fucking push!’</em>
</p><p>With a grunt he crossed the starting line, sucking air into his lungs greedily, angry, and frustrated that he had lost so much. His lungs burned and his heart hammered against his chest as he bent over, hands on his thighs trying to keep from puking.</p><p>He felt the familiar three fingered hand on his back as Lela stepped up to him.</p><p>“Just breathe, you’re doing fine Hades.”</p><p>Squeezing his eyes shut he willed his body to calm, wishing his heart weren’t slamming itself against his ribs. Slowly he evened his breathing out. Deep breath in. Hold. Let it out. Repeat.</p><p>He stood slowly, not wanting the room to start spinning and turned to look down at Lela. He had been surprised to learn that the new legs had increased his height and where he would normally be more equal with Lela, he was now a good half a foot taller than her.</p><p>“The breathing exercises the doc gave you seem to be helping.”</p><p>Hades nodded, unwilling to think about all the talks he’d had with the doctor regarding his mental health and how to deal with the occasional anxiety and panic attacks he had. It was his nightmares where he really struggled and there was very little anyone could do to relieve those.</p><p>“Lemme sit down and you can run your scans, make sure everything is working smoothly.”</p><p>The quarian nodded and walked with him over to a nearby crate where he quickly sat, groaning as tissues stretched in unfamiliar ways against the synthetic parts. It was technically a seamless integration, the synthetic muscles blending into his natural tissues. What wasn’t seamless was the way everything interacted</p><p>Lela brought up her omni-tool and quickly ran the now familiar diagnostic program. It tingled through his limbs as sensors were activated and simulated nerve endings for tactile feel were engaged. Everything twitched for a moment as some change was registered and then the tingling departed, and he was left feeling much like he usually did.</p><p>“Well it seems everything is working fine. A couple of tweaks to the processing core and you’re all set. I think Crar is waiting for you in the armory, Cal had mentioned that you needed outfitting today.”</p><p>“Yea, would be nice to start setting up some weapons.” Hades turned to look up at her, “Lela…thank you, for everything you’ve done so far.”</p><p>The quarian looked up from her omni-tool, “You know I’m only here to study you right?”</p><p>They stared at each other for a moment before breaking down into quiet laughter. Lela tended to defuse Hades’ more serious moments with an offhand comment like that and he was often grateful for it.</p><p>He felt her hand come up and squeeze his shoulder when they had settled, “Gailus and Cal know what they’re doing. We trust them. Just don’t make us regret that.”</p><p>Hades simply nodded at her before standing and stretching, “Well time to go see how snarky the krogan wants to be today. Same thing tomorrow?”</p><p>Lela’s voice gave away the grin she had under her helmet, “Oh yes and I expect some improvement.”</p><p>Hades could only groan before waving a dismissive hand at her before he headed back to his room to grab a quick shower and change of clothes before meeting Crar. Having refreshed himself he made the trip to the armory, pausing to look out the large window to the shuttle bay before turning his attention to the armory. His tour with Calico had shown him that they had a well-stocked and maintained setup, numerous crew lockers and weapons benches as well as crates full of both legal and black-market merchandise. While most of the standard weapon racks were empty the one closest to the entrance was stocked with what looked to be standard M-8 Avenger rifles and a few shotguns.</p><p>Moving further into the almost cavernous room, one designed for roughly one-hundred marines to kit up and get gear, he saw Crar standing towards the back near the maintenance section.</p><p>Crar, as Hades came to know him, was the ship’s eight-foot-tall krogan weapons expert and resident sniper.</p><p>Hades approached Crar quietly as he noticed that the krogan was currently in the middle of tinkering with a weapon optic and didn’t want to disturb him in the middle of the delicate work. The weapon benches that had been installed on the Artemisium, Hades’ found out, were modified by the geth. The typical mini fabricators had been improved, allowing for extremely fine work to be done. Gailus had explained to him that they had been modified to allow the crew to maintain all their own equipment. As they were designed to operate long term without support, it had been important they were able to fix their own gear. It also allowed the geth to manufacture the micro-filaments they required for their platform maintenance.</p><p>Crar was currently using the bench to interact with the micro-architecture of the scope’s internals to ensure that everything was working as required. Shortly Crar finished his work and the optic was reassembled and placed back on the M-8 Avenger for later use.</p><p>“You come to setup your kit for when you can finally be useful?” Crar turned to face Hades’ as he spoke, and he had to take a step back to avoid craning his neck up at the large alien.</p><p>“Yea, Lela mentioned that you had equipment for me to start working on.”</p><p>Crar nodded and moved over to a locker and armor cabinet motioning for Hades to follow. “This will be your setup; it’s blank now so key it to your omni and biometrics.” He paused to roll an eye up and down Hades’ form, “I suppose we’ll be waiting on armor for you. We currently have licenses for Hahne-Kedar and Kassa Fabrication. If you prefer something or have a request Gailus can requisition most anything else.”</p><p>Crar stepped over to the multitude of weapons lockers and opened several for Hades. “Pick what you want, we’ve got most of the popular stuff. Gailus has his Phaeston while the two asari run the M-8 Avengers, though Veyiz prefers her shotgun. Cal and Lela tend towards pistols, right now we have a bunch of the M-3 Predator’s, a couple M-5 Phalanx’s and the M-77 Paladin for everyday usage. We’ve also got a full loadout of geth weaponry if that’s more your thing.”</p><p>“You guys are full of surprises. Ahh…I’m comfortable with the M-8 but might try out a Phaeston later, never used one before. My time with the Alliance didn’t allow for a lot of selection. We used what we were given. Omega had more options, but I ran with what I knew worked” Hades stepped up to the weapon racks, “What do you recommend for a shotgun?”</p><p>Crar stepped up to one of the lockers and pulled out several shotguns to lay on a nearby crate, “Enis and Veyiz brought a few Disciple shotguns onboard, they’re fairly interesting. We also have the geth plasma shotgun as well as the ever-popular M-11 Wraith from our pirate friends. Calico also got us a few Scimitars and Katanas if that’s more your thing. I’d stay away from the Claymore unless you’re looking to lose that other arm.”<br/><br/>Hades only grinned at the oft told joke. He had seen someone try to fire a Claymore after the owner dropped it. It hadn’t ended well for the idiot who ignored the warning laughter of its krogan owner.  </p><p>“I’ll take the Scimitar, I’ve used one before, solid weapons. I’ll grab a M-3 pistol and one of the M-77’s if people are using those for plain-clothes work.” Crar gave a quick nod of his head and pulled the pistols from storage and set them next to the rifle and shotgun already selected. “Okay on to your favorite. Probably not much use for one in boarding ships, but I usually had a sniper rifle with me, and I’d at least like to get one setup.”</p><p>The grin from the krogan was almost disconcerting, “Heh, good choice. We don’t have a lot of them so whatever you pick expect to hang on to it for a while. What do you prefer, speed or firepower?”</p><p>Hades followed Crar over to several large crates where the rifles were kept. True to the krogan’s word there weren’t many options. The M-98 Widow wasn’t much his speed, while powerful he preferred something lighter. The M-97 versus the M-92 was a conversation he was well familiar with from his time in service, though he’d come down on the rapid-fire side of the argument.</p><p>“Always preferred being able to get quick follow-up shots off. So, looks like it’s the Viper for me. The geth make a sniper rifle?” Hades noticed the oddly rounded and distinctly alien weapon next to what could only be a turian designed rifle.</p><p>“Oh yea, that’s an interesting one. Fires a charged beam of plasma. They call it the Javelin. Nasty piece of work, it’ll burn through almost anything not shielded.”</p><p>“Interesting…well that’ll be everything then. If you don’t mind, I’ll get to work on the modifications today even if I won’t be using them for a while.”</p><p>“Sure, use that bench there and the crates over there have our equipment. Let me know if you need anything or if we need to order something.”</p><p>“Thanks Crar, I appreciate the help.” The large krogan nodded before going back to his own bench and continuing his work. Hades quickly checked over the weapons he’d chosen, breaking them down and checking over the parts. The pistols and shotgun were the first to get modified, high-caliber barrels and lightweight parts for a quick draw and heavy punch.</p><p>The M-8 took more time, with a request needing to be put in for several parts to increase the piercing ability of the rifle and his favored ammunition modifications. Off the bat the rifle was a solid workhorse, but he’d have to do some tuning to get it up to his preferred specs.</p><p>Hades put the modified weapons into his locker and returned to the bench to work on the Viper. Hades pulled the weapon apart and setup his preferred options. A longer high-velocity barrel, while making the weapon heavier gave an extra boost to his armor-piercing ammunition preference. A quick optic tuning would ensure that he had better auto-stabilization and a better zoom option.</p><p>He stepped over to the shooting range to test fire the rifle before finishing up. Setting up the haptic feedback targets he flicked the safety off and ensured it was set for a type of training mode meant for indoor and on-ship firing ranges.  </p><p>
  <em>‘Trigger will need some work, and I’ll need to link the helmet visor and optics later. Glad to see they have some top-shelf equipment though, definitely better than Alliance standard issue.’</em>
</p><p>Hades hadn’t heard anyone approach him, but he suddenly got the sense that someone was nearby, the feeling of someone watching him unmistakable. Finishing a quick adjustment of the optic he stood and turned to see Enis leaning her hip against the firing range table.</p><p>“You don’t seem surprised that I’m here.”</p><p>He shot her a crooked grin, “I worked with several huntresses on Omega. They had a habit of sneaking up on all of us. You kinda get used to it after a while. That and if you were going to do me harm, I doubt there’s much I could really do right now to stop it.”</p><p>“That seems slightly fatalistic.”</p><p>Hades snorted, “I’m a realist. You and Veyiz could rip me apart with very little effort. Hell, Lela right now could probably take me out. I’m not exactly in peak fighting condition. Not to mention your biotics.”</p><p>The huntress only nodded, “That was a concern that I wanted to address with you. Meet me in the starboard lounge on the officers’ crew deck when you are finished here.”</p><p>With that she stepped out of the room leaving Hades wondering what he was about to get himself into. He turned to finish his adjustments before storing his equipment in the provided lockers and setting up his biometrics and combination.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Hades made his way to the starboard lounge, uncertain of what to expect inside. He palmed the controls; the door swishing open with a hiss and revealed a plush room complete with a full bar and several comfortable couches and chairs. The view through the transparent alloy Cerberus used to provide a window was unusual, but he chalked it up to the vanity of the terrorist organization.</p><p>Enis was perched on a stool at the bar, a glass in her hand, filled with several fingers of a violet liquid. She turned at his entry and stood, “Feel free to get something for yourself. I figured we could talk over drinks.”</p><p>Hades raised an eyebrow but nodded, “Looks like the Captain keeps a well-stocked bar. Kind of surprising, you would never see this on a typical Alliance vessel.”</p><p>Enis hummed in agreement, “Captain Wolfram is not your average Alliance officer. We are also not technically an Alliance Vessel and as such have less regulations than most. The bar would be the least of someone’s concerns should there be an inspection of our ship.”</p><p>Hades only nodded while pouring a glass of whiskey for himself before joining Enis in the comfortable chairs that were setup around a small table. “You wanted to discuss my conditioning?”</p><p>Enis took a careful sip of her drink before setting it on the table and crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair. “How far are you from what you would consider an effective condition? Meaning you’d be ready to go into the field.”</p><p>Hades sighed, “From what I’ve been told I’m at least another three weeks to really get back to any kind of normal for me. The muscle mass is easy. The gene therapy we got in the Alliance and the Doc here will take care of that. It’s the stamina that I’m missing right now. Lela has me working on the running and it’s definitely improving. But learning how to run again has been a pain. Literally. Other than that, it’s shaking off a couple years of rust and lack of physical training.”</p><p>Enis was quiet for a moment, seemingly sizing up the information, her brown eyes focused on some imaginary point between them. Hades didn’t feel a need to fill the silence and so they sat, the quiet hum of the cruiser the only defining noise. He took a moment to examine the asari in front of him, the dark uniform pants and t-shirt so radically different from what he normally saw from other asari. Both she and Veyiz struck him as somewhat different from the other huntresses that he’d met in his military service and time on Omega.</p><p>“You are of no use to us in your current condition. In order to remedy that I would like to take over your recovery once Lela is finished with her adjustments. The training will be rigorous and long but ultimately useful for you. If you are amenable.”</p><p>Hades snorted, “I can only imagine how much I’ll end up regretting this. Assuming I accept your offer, what do you want from me in return? It’s my experience no one does anything without cause.”</p><p>“I would like to hear your story…in full. The dossier was technically complete, but I felt that there were pieces missing, context as it were for why you ended up where you have.”</p><p>“All you want is to hear about my life?” The tone of disbelief was strong in his voice.</p><p>“I am going to put you through much on the journey to getting better. Asking much more of you would be unfair. You also survived an injury that would kill most others as well as somehow joining and then leaving Aria’s mercenaries. That’s not an easy feat.”</p><p>“Well I suppose that’s better than Lela using me as a portable shield. When do we start?”</p><p>“We will start training when Doctor Tinoko and Lela sign off on your recovery. As for your end of the agreement is tonight after dinner acceptable to start?”</p><p>“Sure, why not. May I ask why you’re interested in helping me? Lela is fascinated by the hardware in me, Gailus and Cal seem to have a use for me, but why you?”</p><p>Enis had picked up her glass again, taking a long swallow, “You have spirit as demonstrated by your will to survive. That is a rare thing. I don’t believe that many would have gone through the pain you clearly suffered without giving up. I simply seek to ensure that your strength is not wasted.”</p><p>Hades tipped his glass to her in a mock salute, “Well hopefully I don’t prove disappointing.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To everyone who's along for the ride, thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are appreciated and lets me know people enjoy the work.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Stories, Drinks and Nightmares</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hades talks about his history with Enis and Veyiz, learns Calico's favorite drink and has a late night chat with Crar.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner that evening had proven to be a quick affair; Calico was required for a debriefing about their last mission and Gailus was writing a report to the Council for the monthly update. Crar rarely took meals with the full crew, preferring to remain in the armory while Lela simply told him to get some sleep for tomorrow before going off on personal business.</p>
<p>Enis had made a quick meal for everyone, most of the fresh ingredients requiring restocking but enough to make the equivalent of steak sandwiches for everyone. The meat was of an alien origin, but funnily enough, tasted like chicken. With the sauce she had put together the meal was still excellent and there were compliments all around.</p>
<p>Hades found himself in the starboard lounge once again, where Veyiz behind the bar mixing drinks for the three of them. Veyiz, he saw, was dressed similarly to Enis, an Armali University t-shirt and military style pants. Watching them move in and around each other spoke of a long time as partners, clearly a lot of missions and history between the two. He found he was thankful that the pants he was able to wear covered his legs well enough, the brief glances the two of them made to his arm were beginning to make him self-conscious.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘I wonder if they even realize how in-sync they are with each other. They almost flow around one another.’</em>
</p>
<p>“I hope you don’t mind if the crew decides to join during one of these sessions, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”</p>
<p>Hades looked back from where he was staring out the viewport to where Enis was now perched at the bar, pale brown eyes watching him closely. Veyiz was almost too intent in her work, clearly listening for his answer.</p>
<p>“No, the dossier the geth put together was fairly complete. The only thing missing was the context and story of what we did and some personal stuff. No major skeletons in the closet, I try to be boring to information brokers.”</p>
<p>He watched Enis’ tattoos lift in a pseudo-eyebrow raise and Veyiz chuckle as she poured three glasses of whatever she’d made up.  </p>
<p>“Well I hope you’re interesting to listen to then, otherwise this is gonna be a really boring night. But here we go, the ship’s cocktail. Based off Cal’s love of rum and her favorite mixer of ginger beer. We have something similar made from Oarnimbra Root. Little spicier but mixes really well, we christened it the Black Sunset.”</p>
<p>The glass that Veyiz slid in front of was an odd mixture of vibrant swirling oranges and yellows against the very dark rum that she had used. “Fitting name, looks like a star exploding or something ominous. You sure this isn’t gonna kill me?”</p>
<p>Veyiz just narrowed sky-blue eyes at him, “Haha, very funny. Taste it and get back to me, I rarely make bad drinks, and then only if Crar is being cranky.”</p>
<p>Taking a sip Hades hummed his approval, it was full of spice and flavor. “Well I have to say that is pretty damn good, thanks Veyiz.”</p>
<p>“Well I find that stories are always better with drinks, so how about we get to it?”</p>
<p>Hades stood and claimed one of the chairs next to the ‘window’ that looked out into the FTL slipstream. Enis and Veyiz claimed the couch across from him and settled in.</p>
<p>“Was there anything you wanted answered or should I just start at the beginning?”</p>
<p>Enis looked thoughtful as she sipped her drink, “Start with your time as an Alliance Commando, unless there was anything special in your training that you feel may be pertinent.”</p>
<p>Hades nodded and leaned back into his chair to consider how he wanted to start his story. He watched the two asari get comfortable across from him, the two sitting close together.</p>
<p>“I guess my whole start was a bit unusual. I joined at 15, an accelerated program to help with the gene therapy they put us through. Spent a year on Noveria going through the process. Fuck that planet, nothing but cold and snow…and bureaucrats. After basic they threw me into the Special Operations training courses. So, two years of that led to the Commando position and I spent the next seven years in nearly every awful place you can imagine.”</p>
<p>Hades paused to sip at his drink and organize his thoughts.</p>
<p>“My specialty was heavy weapons support. I typically ran around with an M-37 Falcon or an ML-77 while on mission. I also trained on a M-98 Widow with explosive munitions on a stabilizer for when we had hard targets to destroy. I got to play with an M-920 Cain once too. Later I ended up at leadership school to study tactics and planning, got promoted and turned into the tactics guy for my platoon.”</p>
<p>He paused once more to sip his drink and consider where he wanted to continue, “Most new Alliance commandos are sent to various cruiser fleets to assist in colony defense. We’re stationed on a cruiser and deploy with the frigate escorts for planet-side assaults since the cruisers can’t go in atmo.”</p>
<p>He noticed that Enis and Veyiz were listening with rapt interest, clearly paying attention to everything he was saying. Part of him wondered if they were gathering intel on how the Alliance conducted operations but figured that would be easy enough to find out regardless of his story.</p>
<p>“We fought mercenaries, pirates, slavers and everything else on dozens of colonies. Elcor artillery regiments are fucking terrifying by the way. Bastards are tough to kill and wear enough armor to build a frigate out of. Damned big cannons strapped to them as well.”</p>
<p>Veyiz leaned forward excitedly, “You fought an elcor artillery regiment? Goddess how the fuck did that happen?”</p>
<p>Hades laughed at the look she gave him, interest mixed with a bit of wariness. “Yea, oddly enough they were a mercenary company. Probably the only one in the galaxy honestly. They were working for an anti-human terrorist organization organized by some fringe turian element. They were providing fire support against a colony that the turians wanted to eliminate. Found out intel later thought it was about the Relay war and old grudges. Anyways, the railguns they carry are devastating and they don’t need to stop and reload, their armor has a mass fabricator for the shells they use. The turians with them kept themselves far enough in front that it was nearly impossible to get close. We had to level everything in a square kilometer to neutralize them.”</p>
<p>“Goddess, that’s insanity. I can’t imagine what your time on Omega looked like if that’s your opening story.”</p>
<p>“Eh, Omega was a whole other mess compared to that nightmare. The big bastards were able to shell us nearly a hundred klicks out and they did it for days at a time. The colony was well defended but left alone they’d crumble under that kind of fire support. The turians harassed the fuck out of us for days in-between being shot at by elcor. After a solid month we finally broke through the turian lines, got to their missile batteries and were able to use it to put some fire back on the elcor regiment. After that we rolled out in a couple of light vehicles, drove like madmen, and finally got to targeting range so we could call in an orbital bombardment from the cruiser. They needed precise coordinates in order to fire with confidence. We ended up saving the colony, over ten-thousand civilians.”</p>
<p>“That’s pretty fucking ballsy, I’m sure they were thrilled.”</p>
<p>Hades gave a small sad smile to Veyiz, “Civilians were thrilled. The colony was thrilled. The Alliance…not so much. My unit was reprimanded for conduct unbecoming, reckless endangerment, and excessive force. Apparently, an orbital bombardment against a typically peace-loving race was frowned upon. The brass didn’t approve of our methods. Something about politics, though I think they wanted to use the issue to press for more political favor or power. A colony getting wiped out offers a lot of leverage against a council race.”</p>
<p>The silence in the room was palpable and Hades only had to look at Enis and Veyiz to know they understood why his story would lead to Omega.</p>
<p>“What happened after.” The quiet question from Enis, her eyes were boring into his, seemingly full of understanding.</p>
<p>Hades frowned, and rubbed a hand over his face at the memory.</p>
<p>“My unit was pissed. We’d been betrayed and we no longer had real support from our superiors. We were told to go pull planet patrol and given next to no resources with which to do it. We were tossed on the oldest frigate they had and told to deal with it. Adapt, overcome, and improvise became our motto.  Since we lost our funding and support and weren’t getting anywhere with Command, I sent out feelers. Got in touch with the less savory elements of wherever we were stationed. Arms dealers needing to move product, executives needing a bodyguard, or a rival bumped off, that sort of thing. We took out our fair share of slavers as well, they tended to leave a lot of credits laying around. I did that for about three years, kept everything off the books and kept everyone on my unit alive because of it. Then the brass came down on us like a vengeful fist from on high.”</p>
<p>Enis spoke up softly, “And that’s what led to your discharge?”</p>
<p>Hades turned his gaze to her, trying to moderate the harshness of his tone, and failing. “Eventually they decided I was a security risk. They could no longer control us as they wanted. Our unit was black ops, nothing we did was particularly wrong, but someone upstairs had it out for either my squad or myself. My unit tried to back me up, but they got threatened and blackmailed to sell me out.”</p>
<p>Hades paused for a moment before continuing, “I lost a lot of people I thought I could trust that day. You give your soul to protect the people you expect to have your back only for them to stick a knife in it.”</p>
<p>The silence from the two huntresses was deafening.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>The night quickly turned to other subjects after Hades turned somber, both Veyiz and Enis deciding not to pry at old memories. Drinks were refilled and the topic turned to Enis and Veyiz’ time in their huntress unit and training. Hades noticed that they avoided many specifics of their work, focusing more on their time in training and typical soldier stories of bad jokes, terrible meals and strange adventures.</p>
<p>“You said you’ve worked with asari commandos before? That was on Omega I’m assuming?”</p>
<p>Hades was comfortably into his third Black Sunset and took a moment to clear some of the buzz from his head before answering Enis. “Yes. Before I started with my team there, I worked with several of Aria’s people. She seems to draw disaffected commandos to her like bees to honey. Later I worked with two asari that were part of my team. both Kelesse and Xan’mee liked sneaking up on everyone. Like most huntresses they were quiet as the grave when they wanted to be and deadly with their biotics. We usually just disappeared people quietly. But sometimes Aria wanted an example made of a leader or a group, and that’s where those two excelled. Their biotics complemented each other for some nasty results.”</p>
<p>“Were you around when that vigilante Archangel was causing a racket on the station?”</p>
<p>“Nah, but that’s actually part of the reason I got the job offer. The gangs needed more recruits after they finally got rid of him. But I think Aria realized how much his work benefitted her in the end. Cleared out a lot of obstinate assholes and it gave her an even greater control of Omega.”</p>
<p>Hades turned to Enis to watch her reaction as she asked a second question. “How did it help her gain control? I would have thought that the disruption to her operations and the loss of the mercenary leadership would destabilize her more.” Her forehead was scrunched in obvious confusion.</p>
<p>“For a time, it did. The gangs were leaderless and frustrated. Shipments were down and there was talk of rebellion by some of the gang members. But Aria had seen how the people of Omega were when Archangel and his team were active. Omega is, was and always will be lawless, free of regulation or control. But hope reigns eternal, and some order brings sanity to the madness. So, we filled in those shoes, ensured the regular people had less of a rough time of it. We also controlled the gangs, took out dissidents, rebels, anyone who didn’t fall into line. Sometimes it required more obvious measures to bring everyone around to the same line of thinking, other times people simply disappeared.”</p>
<p>Hades finished his drink looking up to Veyiz and Enis who seemed to understand if not agree with what he was saying.</p>
<p>“Of course, not everything could be handled directly on Omega. Aria had off-site interests to control and that’s where our specialty truly lay. We were unknowns everywhere else and we used that to our advantage. Convincing a bureaucrat to fall in line is tough, but when his security detail either disappears or simultaneously drops dead around him they become pretty compliant.”</p>
<p>“Fuck. Where were you when Cerberus and the Reapers happened?”</p>
<p>Hades smiled up at Veyiz, “That I’m afraid is a story for another night.”</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Enis had walked with Hades to the elevator before returning to join Veyiz in the lounge for one last drink. Pieces were starting to fall into place, the blanks in his dossier and his time in Omega making more sense.</p>
<p>“What do you think of his story?”</p>
<p>Enis turned to find Veyiz staring into her glass as if it held all the answers, quiet after her question.</p>
<p>“I believe that he was truthful, there were gaps in his file that he filled in. I think that the only reason someone like him would turn to working on Omega and thriving as he did is because he already had the experience.”</p>
<p>“You think we can afford to trust him?”</p>
<p>“Vey, you know as well as I do that trust is earned. We don’t trust him until he shows us that he’s earned it.”</p>
<p>“And you want to help him recover? Even knowing how dangerous he is? He clearly thrived in Omega.”</p>
<p>“We show him faith. We build him back up, bring him to our side. We make him an ally; we get him to trust us first. You and I have done similar things, would have done much the same in his position. Gailus wouldn’t have brought him onboard unless he saw something in him. Just like he did with us.”</p>
<p>She watched Veyiz nod in acceptance, “Okay, so we fix him. Train him. Make him one of us. Then what?”</p>
<p>“We continue on as we have. Cerberus is a threat that clearly warrants some attention, and there are still those in the galaxy looking to do harm.”</p>
<p>“Long as we get to kill some people.”</p>
<p>Enis smiled at Veyiz before bumping their shoulders together. “I promise we’ll burn everything we find to the ground.”</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Hades bolted upright a scream locked in his throat as the hands of the dead reached out for him in his nightmares. He could feel his heart doing its best to hammer itself through his chest and he rushed for the light switch still not sure if he was awake or dreaming. The dreams were always so real, in the moment it was hard to separate the dream from reality.</p>
<p>It was always a figure, reaching out from the dark corners of his room or standing over him watching. Most of the time the feeling was real enough for him to grab his rifle or pistol from wherever he stashed it and have it readied before he figured out it was a dream.</p>
<p>Hades shook his head and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to scrub the images out of his minds-eye. He practiced his breathing, four seconds in, four seconds hold, four seconds out. The rhythm helped to calm his nerves and steady his heartbeat and within a few minutes he felt back to normal.</p>
<p>Checking his terminal, he realized that he’d only gotten about four hours of sleep, but he didn’t relish trying to reclaim what few hours he had left. Not with the nightmares that lurked in the depths of sleep. Hades grimaced, running his hand over the short fuzz his hair had been left as during his time at Cerberus.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Well may as well take a walk, not like I’m gonna get anymore rest tonight.’</em>
</p>
<p>He dressed, throwing on a clean t-shirt and maneuvered the cargo pants he’d stolen from Cerberus over the odd shape of his legs. He was grateful that the geth feet he now had didn’t require boots or shoes or some type of covering. Sure, the feet looked weird as hell, but it meant he was able to walk around normally.</p>
<p>Stepping out into the corridor revealed an empty hallway, and he made his way to the elevator, deciding to head down to the cargo bay and armory to use the firing range. The several geth he passed along the way only nodded or ignored him completely, though the Prime unit watched him as he crossed the hangar bay.</p>
<p>Several minutes later found him mindlessly shooting down targets with his pistol. The steady shooting helped clear his mind and push away the nightmares that had plagued his sleep.</p>
<p>He finished his last set of targets when he felt eyes on him, though he couldn’t say for certain if he’d been snuck up on again or simply been unobservant. Turning he found Crar, dark blue crest almost black in the low light, watching him from the doorway a quick jerk of the head signaling him to follow.</p>
<p>Hades flicked the safety and collapsed the pistol and followed the surprisingly quiet krogan back to the armory. “Can’t sleep kid?” The baritone voice was smooth but knowing. Crar clearly had some idea of why a person would be at the shooting range at an ungodly hour.</p>
<p>Hades gave a quiet laugh at the gruff question, “Yea something like that.”</p>
<p>“From the Reapers or something else?”</p>
<p>Hades turned to look at Crar who had immersed himself in whatever project he’d been working on. “The Reapers are definitely nightmare fuel, along with all their experimental abominations they unleashed on us. That whole war was one big nightmare I guess.”</p>
<p>He watched Crar nod, “Never met anyone who came out of that war without issue kid. Don’t expect you to be the exception.”</p>
<p>“Why kid?”</p>
<p>Crar turned to look at him, “I’m not going to start calling you ‘Hades’ you can be sure of that. You ever get a real name and I’ll think about it. And I’m nine-hundred and eighty-seven years old. You’re basically a baby pyjack in comparison.”</p>
<p>Hades gave a laugh, “Well can’t argue with that logic. And I suppose you’d be right about the Reapers; I can’t imagine anyone really came out whole after that war.” A pause, “Do you have nightmares from the war?”</p>
<p>Hades watched Crar solemnly nod, the large robes he was wearing shift with the motion, deep voice rumbling as he spoke. “Show me a single being that doesn’t have nightmares of something they saw during that time and I’ll show you a broken person.” A pause, “I was on earth for a time after the end of the conflict, saw plenty of horrors and people that didn’t know how to deal with what they’d seen.”</p>
<p>Large blue eyes turned to look at red, “What drives a hardened mercenary such as yourself from sleep?”</p>
<p>Hades felt a shudder run down his spine at the memory of the those that terrorized him in the night. “Reapers had shapes, and purpose. They were death incarnate. What follows me in my dreams is something else.”</p>
<p>Hades looked up to see Crar studying him, a knowing look in his eyes. The krogan motioned to another weapons bench and a crate of equipment that looked like it had seen better days.</p>
<p>“Well if you’re up you can help me sort through this stuff that we took off our last catch. Sort it into anything immediately saleable, things that need to be fixed and trash to be broken down for omni-gel or parts.”</p>
<p>Hades raised an eyebrow at Crar before realizing that this was an offer he could ill afford to turn down. “Alright I can do that.”</p>
<p>He knew Crar would be watching him, checking his work, and evaluating his skills in the armory. As far as a first real meeting with the krogan it was a solid start. He wouldn’t complain when someone offered him an opportunity to put his skills to work.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just wanted to say thank you for the Kudos and the interest in this story. It's definitely a little rough, and in need of some polish, but I hope that it's entertaining so far. Couple more chapter setting the stage as it were and then we'll be heading to some actual missions and Omega.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Diagnostics and Healing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Hades gets cleared for recovery, has a meeting with Calico and finds out Enis is a little intense.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Several hours later found Hades stripping down a former merc’s weapon that had been captured from the crew’s last raid. Crar had told him of the assault on the pirate vessel and Hades was suitably impressed and laughed when Crar told him of the modified grenades that Gailus had been given.</p><p>“I can’t imagine that went over well when they got back. I’m sure Gailus and the two commandos weren’t thrilled, though I may have to get a few more of those from you after I get my armor setup.”</p><p>Crar gave a hearty laugh, “No, none of them were thrilled about it, said they would have liked some warning. To be fair I wasn’t expecting the increase in power that they displayed, but I can get a few more for you.”</p><p>Hades found his time spent with Crar to be entertaining and relaxing, even if the work was routine and well out of his prior experience. There was a certain comradery between them as they swapped stories and exploits, though Crar had far more to talk about than Hades did.</p><p>They spent their time crating up the weapons and equipment that had been pulled from the frigate to later sell to the mercenary gangs on Omega, while any useful pieces were kept for their crew. Anything that wasn’t saleable or broken was checked over to see if it could be repaired or turned into omni-gel for later use.</p><p>It was well past the usual breakfast time when Lela found them, several ration bars and a bottle of water in her hands. “Didn’t expect you to be down here, had to ask Ares if the geth knew where you were. Crar, Calico was looking for a quick report on what you guys have so far. We’re looking to head to Omega as soon as Hades is good to go.”</p><p>Crar gave a grunt of acknowledgement, “Well we’ll have a pretty good haul to sell or trade, some decent equipment from that frigate we took down.”</p><p>Lela nodded at the krogan before turning to her project, “Anyways, Hades time for you to smash down one of these stupid ration bars and get to running!”</p><p>“Good luck kid, don’t let her kill you, we’re going to need you later on.” With that Crar headed to the elevator.</p><p>Hades laughed then looked over at Lela who was still holding out the ration bar.</p><p>“I’m gonna regret this aren’t I?”</p><p>The quarian only nodded before shaking her hand with the ration bar in a ‘come here’ motion. Hades sighed and began mentally preparing for the torture he was about to deal with.</p><p>“Time for you to show some improvement Mr. Commando sir!”</p><p>oOo</p><p>After the session with Lela she told him that he was as acclimated to the legs as she could get him and followed him up to Dr. Tinoko’s lab along with the geth platform Daemon to discuss his prognosis moving forward. The doctor ran several scans while Hades shifted uncomfortably under the doctor’s scrutiny. Daemon simply stood by waiting for the results while Lela clearly enjoyed his discomfort.</p><p>“Physical activity seems to be accelerating the natural healing processes. Your neural pathways are looking active and healthy. And the integration of geth limbs and organic tissue is proceeding faster than expected. Are there any issues with your other cybernetics?”</p><p>Hades shook his head, “No, but I wanted to ask if there was any further information on what the rest of them did. I know you mentioned several parts that didn’t have a current function.”</p><p>This time Daemon spoke up, “Medical records were incomplete. Corrupted. Coding of cybernetics would indicate usage as medicinal outputs. Possibly used for adrenaline, stimulants, nanites or other enzymes to push organic body to further limits. Genetic augmentations could manifest at any time depending on when treatments started. Will have to monitor.”</p><p>Hades took a moment to process the information, “Was there any mention of a control module or a way to control those implants. Possibly psychotropic or mind-altering drugs?”</p><p>Two sets of eyes and a lens turned his way at the question with Daemon speaking first, “Records did indicate that plans for such a device were possible at a later date. Why do you ask?”</p><p>“Just something I think I overheard the scientists talking about. Anyways it’s not important, Enis was interested in starting me on some training and she needed Lela and the Doc to sign off on it. Are we at that point yet?”</p><p>
  <em>‘Spirits, please don’t let them question that.'</em>
</p><p>Dr. Tinoko nodded quickly while Lela was silent, “Yes, I believe that you will be able to advance onto more steady and increased training. Your genetic enhancements, while extensive, can only do so much. You’ll need plenty of physical exercise as well if you wish to return to your original fitness.”</p><p>Hades nodded in return and watched as Daemon turned to him, flaps moving quickly.</p><p>“Hades, we recommend that several upgrades be performed. Removal of extraneous devices and better integration of system as a whole preferable for long term survival.”</p><p>He turned fully towards the geth platform, “And what would that all entail? I don’t think the doc here has a full surgical suite ready to go or the personnel.”</p><p>“The geth on this vessel would be able to handle the surgery with Doctor Tinoko assisting. Extensive medical files and procedures can be obtained for our use. Removal of extra cybernetics provides negligible impact, prevents future issues. Upgrades include tuning cybernetic ocular implants, other ideas to be discussed later.”</p><p>“You want to upgrade my eyes? To do what exactly?” Hades couldn’t help the incredulous tone, but to think his eyes could be ‘upgraded’ was a stretch.</p><p>“Geth platforms receive targeting information and statistics via our ocular lens. Your ocular implants were designed around the same methodology; however, the systems were left unfinished. They’re operating under conventional light input and interpretation. We would be able to integrate data and targeting flow equivalent to most military grade visors. Coupled with proper interface through helmet, can provide a detailed heads-up display. Possibility for…”</p><p>Hades just shook his head, “That sounds like a migraine waiting to happen. I’ve used a visor before, that’s a lot of visual input to deal with.”</p><p>This time Lela followed up, “With the proper acclimation period it’s not too bad. Several of my people have similar implants for detailed tech work on our ships. There’s an adjustment period but it’s fairly quick. We can always revert the changes later, and it’s not something you have to do now.”</p><p>Hades raised his hands as if warding everyone off, “Okay, let’s just get me back to fighting shape and we’ll deal with everything else as it comes. Doc, I think Enis will want your sign-off personally, along with yours Lela.” The two nodded and quickly brought up their omni-tools to send a message to the huntress.</p><p>“Speaking of which, Daemon, are you able to do the omni-tool installation on a geth limb?”</p><p>The platform took a minute, clearly processing the request before answering. “Yes. With some modification for the implant, we can install a new omni-device in the requested limb.”</p><p>“Okay well that’s one issue down. Daemon I need to meet with yourself and Lela in order to sort out my armor situation later, and I think Veyiz said she’d be able to help out.”</p><p>Lela waved her hands excitedly and nearly bounced, “Yes yes! Veyiz has an interest in weapons and armor fabrication and I think I have a few ideas on how to best go about integrating your new limbs with the armor systems.”</p><p>He couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, the engineer in her already going through the problem and ways to solve it. Daemon had also turned to watch the quarian and her excitement, his head flaps twitching in a way that Hades couldn’t decipher.</p><p>“Okay, if we can draw up plans for the legs, I know someone who can help us on Omega, long as Aria allows it. The torso I can probably pull from my old gear, but the arm will be a different matter. Daemon if you have any ideas, I’d like to discuss it tonight or just forward it to Lela and we’ll go over it then.”</p><p>“So, all that fabled special ops training comes to the front. You sound like you’ve done this before Hades.”</p><p>Hades turned, surprised to see Calico at the door. “Apologies Captain, didn’t intend to be giving orders, just eager to get back into the fight and aside from some muscle mass the last major obstacle for me is the armor.”</p><p>He watched her nod, “Understandable. If you don’t mind, I wanted to speak with you before Enis drags you down to her lair. I believe she’s ready to get started as soon as you’re ready.”</p><p>Hades hopped awkwardly off the table he was on and nodded at the Captain. “Lela, I’ll find you after Enis is done doing her best to kill me and we can talk about the armor stuff.”</p><p>The quarian nodded and turned to begin talking details with the doctor and Daemon, her hurried speech betraying her excitement on being able to work on the new problem.</p><p>Calico motioned for Hades to follow and he quickly caught up with her as she stepped out of the lab and moved to the elevator, punching the button for the CIC. They passed through it, several geth platforms monitoring terminals and a galaxy map for any activity the Artemisium would need to respond to.</p><p>Calico motioned for him to have a seat in one of the chairs and she took up one opposite him across the table. Hades sat rigidly, wondering what Calico wanted to talk with him about that required such a formal setting and privacy.</p><p>“Enis told me that you told her and Veyiz about your time in the Alliance, and your subsequent discharge. I wanted to say I’m sorry about the circumstances that forced you out. I remember the rumors that surrounded that incident. Lots of things were wrong and a lot of the officers I know disagreed with the situation. Of course, the blacklisting that you and your unit got didn’t help anything, and then the evidence brought against you buried the rest of it.”</p><p>“Thank you Captain. I appreciate it. It was a bad time for a lot of people and a lot of my unit was hurt because of it.”</p><p>“Did you ever keep in touch with your unit after you left?”</p><p>Hades shook his head, eyes lowered, and forehead creased with regret. “No, I figured it would be best if I stayed away from them, keep their reputations intact possibly.”</p><p>Calico’s eyes bore through him as if searching for something.</p><p>
  <em>‘Hopefully, it’s not my soul, lost that on Omega a long time ago.’</em>
</p><p>“I wanted to talk with you about how you’re settling in. We haven’t seen much of you, but Lela says that you’re doing well and Crar reported that you were helpful in the armory this morning.”</p><p>“I apologize for that. The first few weeks I was dealing with a lot. I’m sure you know I spent a majority of the time with Doctor Tinoko dealing with the aftermath of the surgeries.”</p><p>“Yea, how are doing after all of that? I know Lela’s been working with you a lot.”</p><p>“I’m good. The new limbs are definitely awkward at times, and I can’t wait to see how people react when they see them. But other than that, I owe Lela a debt I’m not sure I can actually repay and now Enis has offered to help me as well. Though it remains to be seen how much it’s help versus torture.”</p><p>Calico laughed, “I don’t envy you the workout she’s gonna put you through. And Lela’s been invaluable to us as well. I’m glad you two got along as well as you have.”</p><p>Hades leaned forward on the table, elbows resting on the surface, head on his hands, “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about Captain? I find it hard to believe you pulled me in here for small talk.”</p><p>She gave him a half grin, “I simply wanted to get to know you better. Gailus isn’t as familiar with the Alliance Commando program as I am, and he wanted to get my opinion of you.”</p><p>“You know I was trained against torture and interrogation, right?” His tone was teasing and light, he knew that if they had doubts about him, they would have spaced him already. Calico just chuckled in response.</p><p>“I don’t think we need to go that far. But I think you of all people would admit your history isn’t exactly normal. Add that into the issue that your name had to be stripped out of all records and Cerberus probably has a bounty out on you. I have an obligation to my crew and with our upcoming stop to Omega I won’t hesitate to leave you there if I feel you’re someone we can’t trust.”</p><p>Hades slowly nodded at the information. Calico’s expression told him that she was being honest and that the next few minutes would be very important to his relationship with the crew. He leaned back in the chair to consider his words.</p><p>“Captain. There’s nothing I can do or say that’s going to change my past. But I was an Alliance soldier, and that wasn’t a role I took lightly. I earned my men’s trust in the Alliance and I earned my team’s trust on Omega. I expect to have to earn yours as well. I hope that I’m given the opportunity to do so.”</p><p>Calico stared at him for a long minute, her eyes seemingly staring into the core of his being as if there was some self-evident truth to be found there.</p><p>“Then we’re on the same page. Don’t get me wrong, the crew likes you, but I have to make sure that’s not just the charm being laid on thick for our benefit.”</p><p>The laugh was harsh and brief, “Captain…That’s mostly fifteen years spent on Omega as well as being in a unit where, even if we didn’t like each other, getting along was the only way to stay alive. I’m honest…to a fault at times. It’s not an act so much as me trying to ensure I don’t get tossed out an airlock at some point.”</p><p>Calico stared at him for a long moment, her face betraying nothing. It was the quiet drumming of her fingers on the table that unsettled him more than anything. The quiet commander persona she had slipped into was startling compared to her outward appearance and Hades fought to hide a grin at the revelation.</p><p>“The second I think we can’t trust you I will personally put a bullet in your head. Understood?”</p><p>“Yes ma’am.”</p><p>“I’m glad that’s settled.”</p><p>Hades nodded; thankful she hadn’t already shot him anyways. “In payment for Enis’ help she requested that I talk about my history with her. We’ll be doing another session tonight most likely in one of the lounges if you and Gailus would be interested.”</p><p>He watched her nod, eyes lighting up with interest, “I’d like that. From what I heard Enis and Veyiz talking about you have a very interesting past.”</p><p>“It’s a checkered one. It’s only appropriate that the rest of the crew be able to listen in. I think I owe you all that at the very least.”</p><p>Calico smiled and nodded, “Well then I’ll bring Gailus along and we’ll look forward to hearing about your adventures. I’m sure it’ll be enlightening. As for now I think Enis is waiting for you down in the gym area…good luck.”</p><p>Hades could only grimace at her suddenly upbeat tone as he thought about what awaited.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Enis was waiting for him in the well-equipped gym they had onboard. She was dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and pants that looked well-worn from use. She had a small smile on her face that Hades wasn’t sure how to interpret, hopefully it meant he wasn’t about to regret coming down to the gym.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on killing you today. We’ll start sparring next week most likely.”</p><p>Hades couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that. He’d seen asari commando’s ideas of sparring and wasn’t keen on getting beaten that badly again. His ribs throbbed at the last reminder he’d had several years ago of what biotics paired with too much enthusiasm could do.</p><p>“So, what’s on the menu for today?”</p><p>She motioned to several mats set out in the middle of the gym, “I figured we’d stretch out, then do a few laps to see how you’re moving. Then run through a typical Alliance style workout, start building you back up. Doctor Tinoko said you need to eat more, and buildup lost muscle mass, a good way to do that is a good workout.”</p><p>“And you’re here for motivation then?”</p><p>She simply nodded at him before moving onto the exercise mats. He followed and began working through his typical warm-up, noting that Enis carefully watched him even as she worked through her own stretches.</p><p>“I know I got uglier, but I didn’t think I was worth that much attention.”</p><p>She gave a raspy laugh at his snark, “Simply observing your motions. You move well for someone who’s so recently undergone extensive surgery.”</p><p>Hades simply nodded at the compliment and continued, though the geth limbs didn’t behave the same as real tissue, the stretching allowed him to clear his headspace.</p><p>“The limbs work pretty smoothly; Lela has been a life-saver in that regard. Don’t think I’d be nearly as far along as I am without her help.”</p><p>Enis nodded with what looked to be a fond look on her face, “She is indeed a fantastic engineer. Her work with us has helped us out numerous times, and probably saved our lives more than we know.”</p><p>Hades followed her lead when she rose from the mats and motioned for him to follow her out to the running track. It was another feature that only Cerberus would install on a warship instead of just a series of treadmills. They ran the track at a comfortable pace, a slight smirk from Enis back to him letting him know she was doing it for his benefit.</p><p>His running had smoothed out substantially after the lessons with Gailus and Lela’s tweaking. Enis ahead of him was silent while his steps echoed off the walls around them. They continued like that for a while, the rhythmic pounding bringing Hades back to his basic training days and the shouts of instructors. it was several laps later that Hades could feel his body disagreeing with the continued run. His muscle didn’t stretch or tire like normal, but as the doctor had explained to him, his body was adjusting to the new limbs and he would tire faster than usual. Like a biotic he would need to increase his calories and ensure he kept a stash of energy bars and gels on him.</p><p>“You okay to continue?”</p><p>He pulled out of his thoughts to see Enis slow a fraction. She most likely already knew from his gait that he had slowed after the seven or so laps. As much as he wanted to continue to prove that he was fine, he knew better than to push past his body’s limits.</p><p>“We’d better make this the last round.”</p><p>She simply nodded and slowed, turning it into a cooldown run instead of the faster pace she’d continued earlier. He was thankful for huntress intuition and Enis’ apparent focus on him during their quick run. Finishing their lap, they both returned to the gym area where Hades quickly grabbed two bottles of water for them out of the cooler. They settled onto two crates that they were set against the wall as a sort of pseudo-bench while he popped an energy gel.</p><p>“How do you feel after that?”</p><p>He sighed, staring down at the mats, frustration setting in. “It’s been a while since I was ever in rehab or physical retraining like this. It’s not a fun feeling.”</p><p>He watched Enis nod knowingly as she replied, “That’s part of why I offered to help. Asari are communal, though if you’ve spent time with huntresses, I’d expect you know that. We don’t let others suffer alone, and I’ve seen enough hurting people to know you’re dealing with a lot. I’ve found that healing is always faster when there’s someone with you to help.”</p><p>He turned his head to look at her, red eyes meeting pale brown and he gave her a small smile. “I appreciate the help all the same. So, what’s next boss?”</p><p>Her laugh was deep and pleasant, “Well now I make you regret ever accepting my help.”</p><p>“Fuck.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope everyone is well and thank you for continuing to read this little adventure. </p><p>Something I meant to post earlier, Wei723 on Deviant Art has some amazing Garrus/Shepard gifs. If you're a fan I'd highly recommend checking those out.<br/>https://www.deviantart.com/wei723/gallery/45197948/masseffect-gif</p><p>The SSV Artimesium idea is based off of the artwork and ideas by Euderion also on Deviant Art. They also have some awesome ship comparison charts for reference.<br/>https://www.deviantart.com/euderion/art/Berlin-class-Cerberus-Version-794916169</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Small Moments</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hades sorts out armor, sticks his foot in his mouth, and gets some decent advice.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Enis had proven true to her word, the workout hadn’t been particularly difficult, but she was exacting in her demands and no exercise was performed outside of her precise standards. Anything that was slightly off had to be redone, and he’d probably tripled the requested repetitions by the time he’d finished each exercise. They ran through a demanding yet excellent workout and used nearly every machine and weight in the gym. He was tired, and what was left of his body burned pleasantly after the amount of exercise he had done. He was hopeful he’d sleep well tonight. The four hours of training had replaced a lot of the tense and useless stress with a sense of calm and satisfaction.</p><p>“Think you can manage a pull-up after all that?”</p><p>Hades didn’t even have the energy to glare at her, just stared up at the bar, wondering who he had pissed off in a previous life. Pull-ups had never been his preference, but they were crucial to soldiers.</p><p>“Well if I can’t it’s just one more thing to add to the ever-growing list of things Cerberus took away from me.”</p><p>
  <em>‘I gotta ask the doc about how much weight the geth limbs can take. Don’t wanna rip my new arm off if I can help it.’</em>
</p><p>Enis only looked on as he hopped up to grab the bar above his head, digits curling over the bar in a familiar fashion. He hung for a moment before slowly engaging the muscles in his arms and back to pull upwards. He grimaced as his body slowly cooperated, clearly the surgeries had taken more of a toll on his back than the rest of him. Pain blossomed along his spine as he continued his assault upwards, not willing to give up. Inch by inch he dragged his chin over the top of the bar, muscles straining at the exertion before he finally topped the bar. He held the position for a moment before sighing and slowly lowering himself down to the starting position and dropping back to the deck.</p><p>“Well, not a total loss but that’s definitely going to take some work. Felt like my back was attempting to pull itself loose from my body.”</p><p>Enis nodded as she looked at him, “The road will be a difficult one, but you have taken the first steps down the path. If you will allow me, I will be there for the rest of them.”</p><p>He stared into pale brown eyes as she looked back at him, wondering why she was so willing to assist in his recovery. “Can’t really turn that down, now can I?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>He caught the water bottle she tossed his way after she watched him settle on one of the crates to calm his breathing. Watching her gracefully cross the distance she set several ration bars and energy gel packets between them, the labels warning of high calorie content for biotics.</p><p>“You should eat something; you’ll need to keep your strength up.”</p><p>He nodded his thanks as he drank from his water and peeled open one of the ration bars, hoping that it didn’t taste like chalk. He and Enis sat in companionable silence for a moment as he evaluated how he felt after the workout he’d gone through.</p><p>“I must admit you seem to be recovering much faster than any of us would have expected.”</p><p>Hades glanced over at Enis, her expression curious and questioning. “I suppose that’s a fair question, a lot of it has to do with the gene augmentations and a few cybernetic implants the Alliance gives their soldiers as well as the additional ones the Special Forces get. I found out later that the Alliance uses Binary Helix as the main supplier for military grade augmentations and the like. So typically, we get stronger muscles, faster tissue repair, increased oxygen, and blood flow. For the Spec Ops side of things, they add in bone density, medical weaves for faster healing and an increased adrenaline response. We’re made to be designer weapons essentially.”</p><p>He watched her nod, “Any reputable huntress company will do something similar for their individuals. Veyiz and I were a part of the Armali Guard. We both underwent similar treatments as you, though it seems Cerberus wanted to take that a step further.”</p><p>Hades raised his eyebrows at the information, neither of the huntresses he’d worked with had ever mentioned receiving enhancements or cybernetics.</p><p>
  <em>‘Wonder if it comes down to being a personal thing.’</em>
</p><p>“The geth and good Doctor are still running through their files and the medical data to see what the end goal was. Some of what they’ve dug up was fairly normal for enhancing soldiers, but hopefully we can shed some light on the rest.”</p><p>He took a pull from his bottle of water and sucked down one of the energy gels, when he noticed that Veyiz had pulled up a seat nearby and was quietly listening to them. He smiled and shook his head when she grinned at him, having caught the slight twitch he let out at seeing her there.</p><p>“Veyiz. If you came to watch me suffer you just missed it.”</p><p>The blue asari only shook her head in mirth, “What a shame, but I can imagine she put you through the ringer. She takes making her biceps and abs looking good very seriously.”</p><p>Hades briefly caught Enis rolling her eyes at Veyiz as the group laughed. The blue asari spoke up, keen eyes meeting his, “Lela mentioned you had started discussing armor modifications with her. I might have a bit of an interest in that sort of thing myself.”</p><p>Hades only raised an eyebrow while Enis pulled more water from the storage unit and tossed one to him and Veyiz. “Lela had said something to the effect that you were into that sort of thing. I’m guessing it’s a little more than simple modifications if an engineer like her is bringing it up.”</p><p>The grin he received from Veyiz was knowing and exuberant, “Armali University has an unsurpassed engineering school. The schooling I mentioned earlier was in there, for their armament manufacturing program.”</p><p>Hades raised both eyebrows in surprise, “You want to be a weapons developer then?”</p><p>“Why the surprised tone?” Veyiz leaned forward from where she sat.</p><p>He shook his head to ward off the accusation, “I guess it’s one of those things you know people do for a living, but don’t hear much about. Didn’t mean anything by it, I guess it’s just so far out of my wheelhouse of job ideas that hearing someone want to be in that line of work is surprising. I know armaments and modifications but building them never came up as a job description. Then again my life expectancy wasn’t in the multiple centuries either.”</p><p>Enis spoke up this time, “Our unit encouraged us to pursue education or training over mercenary work, though many of our number still pursued followed that life. I actually spent fifteen years with the Turian military in a training initiative. That was a rather interesting experience.”</p><p>“So why am I the one telling stories about my life when you two are clearly the more interesting ones?” He kept his tone teasing, the help he was receiving well worth his time telling stories.</p><p>Enis’ rasping laugh mixed with Veyiz’ lighter one and he couldn’t help but join them after Enis gave him a mock glare for his impertinence.</p><p>The click of talons on the deck was heard before Gailus made his entrance to the gym area. They all greeted him, and he nodded in return, “I see Enis has already made good on that training offer. How are you doing Hades?”</p><p>“Much better after the help from everyone, though I think Enis is trying to break me again.”</p><p>That earned him a laugh from Veyiz, something of a rumble from the Spectre and a swift promise of pain the following training session from Enis.</p><p>“Was there something you needed Gailus?” The Spectre nodded at Enis’ question, “We’ve got a distress call from a in the Omega Nebula called Thunawanuro. It was mostly an Elcor mining concern before the Reapers hit it. Now there are more colonies there and a lot of rebuilding efforts. We received word that raiders are several hours out, and the colony requested our help. We’re about two days out from them, but we’re the only response force in the area. Calico has us headed there now. Crar is already working on weapons and the geth are prepping the shuttles and Mantis gunships.”</p><p>“Very well, is there anything you’d like us to do in the meantime?”</p><p>“No, I’ll call a briefing when we’re closer, in the meantime simply prepare as you want. Hades, I’d ask that you continue to maintain your training. Without armor to fit, there’s not much we can use you for.”</p><p>He nodded, “I’ll see if Crar can use me for anything.”</p><p>“Very well, see you all at dinner then.” With that the large turian spun on a heel and left, talons clicking softly at his departure.</p><p>“Looks like I get to see you guys in action sooner than later. Hopefully, it’s just Terminus rabble causing trouble.”</p><p>“Regardless of who it is, the fuckers will pay for trying to hit a colony. Gailus likes a good, scorched earth policy against trouble like that. Try to send a message to the rest of the idiots so they stop being pests.”</p><p>Hades raised his eyebrows at the information, he supposed a Spectre sent out to the Terminus systems would be required to maintain a bit larger profile to keep the trouble to a respectable level. Having your own cruiser would help in that aspect of course.</p><p>Hades stood and stretched his arms above his head, back popping several times as he did so. He caught the hint of a smirk on Veyiz’ face and a careful stare from Enis at the sounds.</p><p>“Yes yes, stare at the old man. I’m off to talk to Lela about getting that armor setup, seems that I’ll need it before long.”</p><p>Both asari simply nodded at him and he made his way to the elevator to return to his room and a shower.</p><p>oOo</p><p>“How was he today?”</p><p>Enis turned to look at her battle sister who was staring at her with a certain intensity. There was an undertone of something being asked between the lines, but she would not begin to guess as to what Veyiz really wanted.</p><p>“He did well enough, though he is frustrated by his current situation. He is strong and will continue to push through his pain, however. You should form your own opinion of him, helping him in getting armor fitted should provide you with that opportunity.”</p><p>Veyiz nodded in acceptance, “Sounds like a solid idea.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>After a shower and a quick message from his terminal, he found Lela and Daemon in the engineering bays where the geth had installed fabricators for various repairs, platform creation and maintenance requirements. Daemon and Lela were focused on some project or another when Hades found them. He noticed that Lela was wearing her faceplate, and he made a mental note to ask her about it later when she noticed him.</p><p>“Oh, hello Hades, Veyiz should be on her way.” Lela paused for a moment, “We really need to get you an omni-tool, maybe Serrice Council or Kassa if Gailus can requisition one for us.”</p><p>Hades only shook his head, “That’s a problem for when we hit port. For now, we’ve gotta figure out this armor situation. Just heard that you guys are responding to a colony being attacked. I’d like to be of help sooner than later so no time like the present, I guess.” Hades turned to look at the geth platform, “Daemon do you have any recommendations, you’re more familiar with how your synthetic limbs interface.”</p><p>The platform stared at him for a moment, the optical lens fixated on him, most likely running a scan of his body.</p><p>“Yes. We are drawing up designs to pass on to a custom manufacturer. Typical armor interfaces require the bio-electric feedback present in organics. Your limbs do not give off the proper signals to interact with the armor. Suggestion of integrating a specialized under-suit similar to Quarian manufacture. Will allow limbs to pass information to the armor systems. Integration of geth VI in armor will ensure proper function.”</p><p>Lela nodded her head at the suggestion, “Yes, you’re going to need something to relay vitals from the artificial limbs to the armor systems since there’s no biological tissue to read from. The programs and relays we use in our suits are well suited to something like that.”</p><p>“Okay, the armorers I know on Omega usually work best when they have a solid base to work from. It’d take too long to have them troubleshoot the issues and then build it. May as well sort out the basics here.” Hades paused, thinking, “Can we manufacture the under-suit on the ship?”</p><p>Lela cocked her head, bringing her hand up to her helmet’s speaker, clearly in thought. “I believe we should be able to with the appropriate omni-gel and fabrics. We can pick those up on Omega I believe, most of what we use was designed to be repaired outside the flotilla. The sensors will be easily manufactured here, just needs the VI to run and interpret the readings.”</p><p>“Okay, sounds like a solid plan. Second question is what to do about armoring the legs. Geth typically don’t wear full armor like us organics so there’s no designs for it.”</p><p>He watched Daemon look down at his legs, covered as they were by the loose-fitting cargo pants, that he’d acquired. He shifted his feet, dual toes tapping on the carbon-steel flooring, still self-conscious about his new limbs.</p><p>“An armor system can be designed for full coverage. Scans can be taken to provide a digital layout of design.”</p><p>Veyiz spoke up from behind him, clearly a fan of being obnoxious with her sneaking abilities. “Can’t believe you guys started without me, but sounds like you’re sorting out the leg problems?”</p><p>Lela spun, clearly unconcerned with the unconventional asari’s presence. “Yes, we’ll have to get high-res scans of the limbs, plan out and get a design going for the armorer. Too bad we can’t simply buy the designs from Kassa or someone to make our own.”</p><p>“That would be easier, but armor design isn’t something you want to get complacent with. I can draw up some designs once we get the scans.” She turned to Hades, “How much plating do you want?”</p><p>Hades had stepped over to a nearby desk while the two engineers talked, he sat amused, one hip leaning against the side while they rambled on.</p><p>“I figured I’d get a set in a lighter setup as well as the heavier stuff I’m used to. Preferably something similar to my last set that managed to save my life from a grenade that landed nearly on top of me.”</p><p>Veyiz’ facial tattoos shifted at that reveal, clearly surprised. “Okay, so full ablative ceramics and nano-carbon titanium underlay on the heavy set, maybe go with something with weaved nano-fibers and lighter plating on the second set. I can start running base schematics for it once we get a full scan of you.”</p><p>The next thirty minutes found Hades uncomfortably under-dressed as he was forced to run through a large high-res 3D scanning machine. Stripped down to his compression shorts wasn’t how he’d wanted to spend his day, but if it meant that he’d be able to get a new set of armor he’d take it.</p><p>Lela had already seen him in the medical bay, had seen most of his scars and issues that he’d gone through. Veyiz though was a different story, he watched her eyes widen at the scar tissue and alterations, though she remained silent with any opinions.</p><p>He watched the scans finish and the three others of the group go through a swift design phase in which Daemon was able to render several armor setups with the help of the Artemis AI core. He found that Veyiz was extremely capable as a designer and had a good grasp of design and along with Lela and Daemon assisting, they had several set designs inside of a few hours. He gave his input where needed, the armor coming out as more of as shell than a typical suit.</p><p>The chest would be two pieces that fit his front and back, while the arms were plated portions with a flexible nano-fiber weave in-between the sections. It was decided that the armor would need to be powered and built around a powered internal skeleton to provide greater mobility.</p><p>To Hades the setup reminded him of Hahne-Kedar designs he’d seen, with a higher armored collar and attachment points for various power cells or grenades. The helmet would be designed without the typical transparent visor, instead using external sensors and cameras to provide a heads-up display. He smiled as he remembered several of his teams customized helmets both in the Alliance and on Omega, he’d have to see about adding his own spin to the usual military styling.</p><p>The lower parts were built in several sections like the arms, more nano-fiber weave providing protection around the joints and un-plated portions. The interlocking system was based closely on turian designs and input from Daemon and Artemisium.</p><p>“Well I think that about does it, we’ll have to see if your armorer can actually make it. With the amount of materials that’s gonna take, you have the credits for it?”</p><p>“What you guys don’t want to buy me a Christmas present?” He smiled at the chuff from Veyiz and the laugh from Lela. “I mean I’ll have to raid my retirement accounts, but no, credits won’t be the problem. Aria will be.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>They left Daemon in the engineering bay working on the armor project and whatever else it was that the geth were up to. They headed down to the mess hall where the rest of the crew was already seated and Enis was bringing out several dishes of noodles and sauces.</p><p>“We raiding the bottom of the barrel here huh? Anytime Enis busts out the noodles it’s definitely time for a restock.”</p><p>Enis simply shook her head at Veyiz’ commentary, “We’ll sort it out after we hit the colony. We can probably pick up a few things there at the very least.”</p><p>Calico turned from where she was pressed against Gailus, his arm wrapped over her shoulder, “Speaking of, meeting tomorrow at 1800 hours. We’ll be running over the assault planning and ship boarding. Lot to discuss so bring ideas, Hades you’ll be welcome to join for any input.”</p><p>
  <em>‘I hadn’t realized they were together; I need to get out of my room more often.’</em>
</p><p>He raised his eyebrows, “Captain…I’m fairly certain between two asari huntresses a turian Spectre and the geth you’ll have more than enough input. I’d just be extra noise.”</p><p>Gailus turned at the mention, “There is always a way to view something from a different angle. The Alliance operates differently from the Asari Republics or the Turian Hierarchy. I asked you to join us for a reason, don’t be so quick to make yourself worthless.”</p><p>Hades quickly realized his error and simply nodded before sitting down next to Lela who lightly cuffed him on the shoulder and muttered what felt like the quarian equivalent of idiot under her breath.</p><p>“Did you all get the armor situation figured out? I noticed Artemisium was running simulations up in the engineering bay.”</p><p>The change in topic by Calico lightened the atmosphere and Lela with Veyiz quickly launched into an excited explanation of what they were working on. Gailus tossed in several suggestions based on his own equipment and Hades watched Veyiz start mentally making the changes.</p><p>The rest of dinner wrapped up quickly, talk of Hades’ stories bringing interest from Lela who said she’d join them shortly. Dishes were cleared and the crew dispersed, Veyiz telling everyone she’d get the bar setup in the forward lounge and everyone should be there in twenty minutes.</p><p>Veyiz casually nudged his shoulder and jerked her head in a ‘follow me’ fashion. They walked in silence to the former cockpit and Hades took a moment to take in the view through the so-called windows. The FTL slipstream glittered by in an assortment of colors and light. Inlaid viewing screen took up most of the wall and gave off a sense of being totally exposed to the vastness of space. He stood quietly, watching out the window while Veyiz mixed up something at the bar, the sounds of glassware and bottles tinkling through the room. Aside from the rather large bar, the room was designed for comfort, with several large couches and sumptuous chairs forming a central ring. </p><p>“You know, you and Enis have that whole zone out and look out a window thing down pretty well.”</p><p>He turned, chuckling at the disdainful yet playful tone that Veyiz had affected. “It’s a hell of a view, taking time to appreciate it can be helpful at times.”</p><p>She snorted and passed him a violet colored drink, streaked through with light blue. “Let me know what you think of that. Trying to come up with a name for it. It’s a liqueur made from a berry on Thessia along with a quarian alcohol from Rannoch. I’d say it’s most like your Earth’s gin or vodka, just more colorful.”</p><p>Hades looked at it for a moment, “Why is it that everything you hand me is glowing or looks like it’s about to explode?”</p><p>Veyiz just smirked at him, “Just drink the damn thing. Also, shiny drinks like that demand a premium from Armali University students. Did a stint as a bartender there to make some extra credits.”</p><p>He nodded and took a sip and paused, “I can’t actually describe what that tastes like, but it’s not bad. Tangy is the closest I could come to a description, definitely nothing I’ve had before.”</p><p>“I’m glad. Now you can tell me why you were so quick to try and devalue yourself before everyone else gets here.”</p><p>Hades snapped his attention to her, red eyes meeting pale blue that stared back at him with questions in their depths. Turning away from her he stared back out into the dark reaches of space, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.</p><p>“Was I wrong?”</p><p>“You were. Like Gailus said you wouldn’t be extra noise, there’s always another viewpoint to consider. I read your damn file, you’re better than this self-doubting bullshit, fucking act like it and make the help you’re receiving worth it.”</p><p>He turned back to the incensed asari and watched her for a moment while she began mixing several drinks, her eyes flicking back to him occasionally. After a time, she paused in her work and planted both hands on the bar to stare back at him.  </p><p>“What?”</p><p>He ran a hand through his hair, forgetting momentarily that it was still stubble. He was frustrated that he had no words to properly convey his feelings.</p><p>“It caught me off-guard is all. I realize I could have phrased it better but really it was unexpected. I don’t know Veyiz, I feel like there are expectations being laid on me that I can’t live up to. I survived for fifteen years on Omega because of my crew and luck. Same with my time in the Alliance. I wasn’t some one-man army that changed the course of a war or anything.”</p><p>Veyiz’ expression softened at his words, understanding washing over her, “I get it. You’re in an awkward spot with us, but now’s the time to start paying into that debt. Colony raids aren’t fun. They’re a damned clusterfuck to borrow some human phrasing. You may be the one to see something none of us can or imagine some scenario that we haven’t seen.”</p><p>Hades nodded, “Sorry, I know I owe you all a hell of a lot. Just trying to find my way I guess, didn’t recognize the helping hand for what it was.”</p><p>“Good. Next time just smile, nod, and then talk to me or Enis if you have a problem. Now figure out what you’re going to tell us about tonight.”</p><p>Hades raised his glass in a mock toast and smiled, “I’ll figure something out.”</p><p>“Good, everyone should be here in a minute, help me move the couches around really quick.”</p><p>Gailus and Calico were the first to arrive, thanking Veyiz for the drinks and taking up one of the couches, Calico tucking herself into Gailus’ side while they talked quietly. Lela arrived with Daemon who explained that he was interested in hearing more of Hades’ life. Enis glided into the room shortly after and gave Veyiz a quick nod before settling in. Everyone grabbed drinks and a comfortable spot eyes turning towards Hades for his story.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Early Days</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hades relates some of his early moments on Omega, and a past that he's not proud of. The crew also mission plans for their coming assault on New Canton.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So Enis, this was your request, where would you like me to continue from?”</p><p>He watched her take a sip from her drink, eyes downward in thought. “Last time you mentioned you were recruited to Omega by your old contacts. I would like to hear what your early years there were like.”</p><p>Hades nodded and gathered his thoughts quickly. The early years on Omega weren’t something he liked remembering, not exactly his finest moments.</p><p>“Sure, like I mentioned earlier I arrived after the whole Archangel trouble. Everything was still a bit of a mess. The gangs weren’t really organized since the death of their leaders and Omega had risen to a new level of lawlessness. The newest organization there, called the Talons, were looking for members. They’d just had a change of leadership and were interested in my skillset.”</p><p>Looking around he noticed everyone was relaxed but interested in his story. Calico and Gailus were together on the couch, with her tucked under his arm. Lela had snuggled herself into one of the large chairs, eyes glowing in the dimmed light now that her faceplate had been removed. What was interesting to him however was the fact that Enis and Veyiz had taken one of the other couches and were tucked together as well with Veyiz leaning into Enis’ side. He filed that particular bit of knowledge away for later. Asari were fairly communal, but it seemed somewhat more intimate than what he’d experienced.</p><p>“I got there as they were reorganizing. We still smuggled weapons, drugs, did some assassination work, as well as the usual protection racket, ripping off of other crews and the like. Not my proudest moments but when you’re the new guy on the totem pole you keep your opinions to yourself.”</p><p>“What were your thoughts at the time? I can’t imagine it was an easy transition from the Alliance to the mercenary teams.” This came from Gailus who seemed to be probing for something if Hades was hearing the tone right.</p><p>“Honestly, the hardest part was the real lack of organization. The Talons, like most merc groups, didn’t believe in a lot of serious structure. You had pockets of people who had a job, and a group leader but there wasn’t a lot beyond that. I didn’t agree with the slaving they did, but in comparison to Nos Astra or the Batarian Hegemony that was a miniscule part of the larger operation. I did what I could to redirect efforts to more profitable ventures, but it’s hard to change institutions.”</p><p>“You helped run slaves?”</p><p>The cold tone from Veyiz warned him immediately that the slavery issue was going to be a problem. “The mercs did, they stopped when they started losing the shipments to Alliance patrols. Little bit of sabotage, a couple of trackers and a few disappeared bad eggs and no one saw a good reason to continue that line of work. They were mostly running transport, not raids to capture so disrupting the trade was substantially easier.”</p><p>“I imagine that’s not the whole story. Sounds a bit convenient that an entire merc group gives up a very profitable line of work.”</p><p>Hades stared at Veyiz where she was now leaning forward on the couch, “There’s a bit more to it. It took one very nasty warning from what looked to be a rivl batarian slaver group to get them to stop completely. Couple of key personnel turning up in unpleasant fashions helped too.”</p><p>Veyiz nodded, “I assume that you had something to do with that then?”</p><p>“Not exactly, I sent what I could to trusted Alliance contacts and others on the station, but I didn’t send that particular message. But I’ll get to that later, that’s almost story in and of itself. Where was I…oh yea…so I helped shift their attention to weapons smuggling and protection for hire. The gang still ran on making profit, so not much to be done except redirect their focus as best I could. I brought in better security and training, so their shipments didn’t get hit as much or as badly. Hijacking other shipments from the Suns and Eclipse worked out well for us. Kept us making money and kept the other groups from getting back to their pre-Archangel days.”</p><p>“Sounds like you took to the business pretty well.”</p><p>Hades contemplated Calico and her question for a moment. “In all honesty I had done most of it when I was working with the Alliance. It also didn’t last very long. Their leader, an absolute pyjack named Derius, was ousted by an ex-military turian biotic by the name of Nyreen Kandros. She was swift and brutal, executed several members who didn’t fall into line and brought in a lot of former turian military and krogan mercs. The gang went from a small-time organization to a proper para-military unit.”</p><p>Gailus spoke up, “I’ve heard the name Kandros before, they’re a well-known military family, a lot of history. Didn’t think one of them would become a mercenary leader.”</p><p>“Well, I can say she was a hell of a leader, re-organized everything, found out about my background and put me to work. We were expanding rapidly and brought in a lot of experience, but then Cerberus’ fucking experiments hit the station. Left us as the only real active resistance group around. We organized the civilians, fought, raided when and where we could and tried to keep as many people alive as possible. Initially we tried to deal with the damned Adjutants, but we ended up having to seal off a lot of the station to contain them.”</p><p>Hades sipped at his drink, a shudder running up his spine at the memory of the horrors that the Adjutants brought to Omega.</p><p>“Long story short, Cerberus decided waging war on us was a good idea. What they didn’t count on was Aria’s sheer ability to survive as well as her uniting the gangs. What went from a simple, round up the populace operation by Cerberus, turned into full scale warfare. Several days of bloody fighting in the streets, dodging Adjutants and trying to get Cerberus off the station resulted in them pulling out. We thought we’d finally won, but it ended up that they were willing to destroy the station and everyone on it just to prove a point. Aria was forced to leave the station in order to save it. Nyreen had us seal everything up in the emergency tunnels and bunkers and said we’d wait to see what happened and help who we could.”</p><p>“I remember hearing about that mess after the fact. I heard Admiral Shepard was involved there and helped Aria retake the station. There wasn’t a lot of love for her actions from the Alliance at that point.”</p><p>Hades nodded at Calico, “Yea, Shepard and Aria came in riding on a Cerberus cruiser…right into the fucking station. Made a hell of an entrance. But they pulled the gangs together, got the Talons involved and helped clear out Cerberus. I was on the other side of the station during most of that though, didn’t see how Shepard or Aria fared. I know we struggled through a lot of it. It was brutal, bloody fighting and a lot of people died on both sides. I tell you it was a glorious day when Aria murdered that fuck of a general and we didn’t have to keep listening to his bullshit.”</p><p>“From Alliance Commando to Omega Enforcer. That is quite the career trajectory.”</p><p>The quiet statement from Enis felt loaded to Hades, “I’ll be the first to admit, more often than not I find myself in particularly awful situations. On the other hand, I’m also good at what I do. The Alliance gave me the background and skills to survive and Omega honed them to a dangerous edge. I did what I had to in order to survive and Omega was the only place I had left after the Alliance discharged me. No organization was going to put themselves in trouble by hiring me and I wouldn’t be welcomed anywhere but an outer colony.”</p><p>Enis nodded in response and the rest of the crew seemingly relaxed a fraction as if something had been decided.</p><p>“Anyways, Veyiz back to your question. I later found out that Nyreen was the one who took out the Talon slavers and made a statement to Derius. I had apparently been passing intel through a proxy of hers and she had taken to acting on it. She’d been planning on taking over the gang for a while but needed a way to start. The slavery aspect was a quick and easy route to destabilizing Derius’ base of power.”</p><p>Veyiz just looked at him for a moment before speaking, “Why didn’t you send a message like Nyreen did?”</p><p>Hades just chuckled lowly, “Her methods…while effective…were fairly gruesome and I’ve seen some horrifying shit. The bodies she left…I wouldn’t wish that on even the scientists that turned me into whatever it is people would call me. I hold no love for slavers of any kind, but I’m also not one for needless harm. The problem is that simply dumping bodies on Omega doesn’t leave a message. It’s just another day for everyone, so you have to make a spectacle out of it.”</p><p>The asari nodded then, seemingly satisfied with his answer.</p><p>“But anyways, my story of Omega moves on from there, the Talons grew into the main force on Omega and they now run much of the station. Unorganized crime dropped, and they maintained the status quo that Nyreen started with defending the civilians and keeping other gangs and merc groups in order. I got noticed by one of Aria’s lieutenants during that Cerberus offensive and was slowly pulled into the Queen’s orbit as it were. Started off with small jobs and tasks, turned into working with a small team and then expanded after that. But that’s something like ten years’ worth of history and is probably best left for another time.”</p><p>“I have to be honest Hades…I’m amazed you’re still alive. It really sounds like you bounced from one shit situation to another and came out on top in all of them.”</p><p>Hades gave Calico a quick smile, “That’s probably accurate. I did grow up on Earth, parents weren’t around much, and I had to rely on myself a lot. I’d like to lay the luck on something funny like my survival training or a particularly nasty drill instructor. But the truth of the matter is that I’ve failed plenty of times. When you fight your way out of a weapons deal gone bad for the fifth or sixth time you start to see the patterns emerge. The years I spent supporting my unit were the foundation for creating an extremely robust survival instinct.”</p><p>“What led to you being involved with a Cerberus front then? I would assume something like that would feel off to someone who survived Omega.” The quarians accented voice broke the small silence that had developed.</p><p>Running a hand over his face and head Hades sipped his drink wondering, not for the first time, exactly how he’d missed the signs.</p><p>“Lela…that is a question that I have been asking myself for a while now.” He sipped at his drink again looking back on his decisions, “The signs were there if you looked for them. I think the number of zeros on the paycheck were a big factor. It was supposed to be an easy gig, low stress, no real danger, and a cushy office. It was supposed to be my way out of all of this.” Hades stared at his left hand which held his drink, silently cursing the missed warning signs.</p><p>“Anyways…” Hades looked around at the group with a small smile that utterly failed to hide his true feelings, “Probably not the most exciting story ever, not much of my time on Omega is, truthfully.”</p><p>Enis spoke up quickly, “The purpose wasn’t only for entertainment Hades, hearing of your start on Omega was enlightening regardless.”</p><p>“Well, if my time in the Alliance was anything like yours, I’m sure we can swap some funny barracks stories.” Calico shifted on the couch, having clearly read the room.</p><p>Hades was extremely grateful to Calico in that moment. “Yea I’ve got a few good ones, but I think this calls for a round of drinks really quick.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>The night passed quickly with everyone regaling the crew with a funny moment or memory. Enis and Veyiz had a variety of stories from their time bartending or dancing at various clubs, while Lela told of her early childhood on the Flotilla and some of her engineering accidents. Calico and Gailus, like Hades, had the ever-amusing basic training and mis-spent shore leave stories to tell. Soon enough the night came to an end. Gailus and Calico left first, citing the mission planning they had to do for the upcoming colony assault and Lela followed shortly after.</p><p>Veyiz had moved behind the bar, fixing another round of drinks while Hades stood by the viewing screens, watching the flow of FTL lights. He felt Enis move beside him, simply taking in the view as he did. He was grateful for the silence, the night had brought back memories he preferred buried, locked away and forgotten. The adjutants on the station had been terrifying and watching them turn their victims into more of themselves had been brutal. The process was disturbing to say the least and for months afterwards he’d had nightmares of that time.</p><p>“Hades?”</p><p>The single word was soft and raspy but questioning in tone. Enis had turned to look at him, concern written on her face.</p><p>“Sorry, the early years on Omega weren’t exactly things I like to remember. Not exactly happy times, and the Cerberus invasion as well as those Spirits-damned Adjutants are the icing on the bad memories.”</p><p>Enis nodded at him before turning back to the window. “Do you regret your time on Omega?”</p><p>He grimaced, “Honestly…if I regretted my time, I wouldn’t have told any of you about it. I know its bad history, but that’s who I am. And at some point, my story gets worse. Aria used us to enforce some things, but at the same time, she had to be able to maintain the illusion that there were no rules on Omega. Slavery was still going on, innocents still died, gangs still hurt people. We cleaned up what we could, but on a station of nearly eight million people, you can’t control everything.”</p><p>“I never expected your story to be a happy one Hades, the only thing I will ask you for is the truth. If there are things you don’t wish to discuss, simply say so. No one on this crew is some paragon of virtue, we’ve all done what we need to, in order to survive.”</p><p>He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then turned to see Veyiz on his other side, staring out the window. She handed him another drink, the previous one long forgotten on the center table. There was tension he couldn’t identify, something pressing on the air around him.</p><p>Silence reigned for a while, Hades lost in his thoughts, deciding that if there was something to be said Veyiz or Enis would say it. He sipped at his drink, noticing that it was a Black Sunset, the spice and heat of the drink warming and comforting.</p><p>Veyiz cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable with something.</p><p>“I’m sorry for coming off as so aggressive earlier. I don’t like slavers, and hearing that you may have been a part of it was disconcerting to say the least.”</p><p>Hades looked at her out of the corner of his eye, her posture tense and unyielding, “I understand. It’s not something I’m proud of being involved with, but I can’t claim ignorance or innocence. I did what I could, but in the end, it went on regardless. Nyreen and I, as well as her associates quickly put a stop to it when she took over and we quickly eliminated anyone who had been a part of it.”</p><p>Hades felt the hot wash of shame run over him, the ever-present question of, <em>could I have done more</em>, rattled around his mind. He knew how Veyiz felt. Slavers were truly the lowest form of scum, but there was only so much he could accomplish by himself.</p><p>He heard Veyiz sigh next to him, some internal choice made.</p><p>“Look, I’m not happy to hear about it. But as long as that’s your past and it stays that way, I’m good with knowing you did what you could. If I find out that you had any direct involvement in it…you’ll wish that Cerberus had killed you.”</p><p>Hades turned to look Veyiz in the eye. Her expression and tone were serious, there would be no escape from threat.</p><p>He nodded, there was nothing else to be said on the subject. She returned it with a piercing look and a quick nod of her own.</p><p>“I’ll bid the two of you good night then. Sounds like it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”</p><p>Hades finished his drink and turned to leave, the tension in the room driving him from any further desire for conversation. As he approached the door, he turned back to see Enis embracing the other asari, the whisper of soft words floating across the room. Red eyes met pale brown as Enis held the other huntress and he spun on his heel wishing to avoid the knowing stare.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The morning cycle brought routine with it. Hades met Enis in the gym and they silently began running through their respective stretches. Enis didn’t seem in a mood for conversation and Hades wasn’t sure what he’d even say. So instead, he joined Enis on a quick run, interspersed with sprinting and a final all out finish that left him winded and panting, but feeling better about his progress.</p><p>He worked through the usual gym routine, Enis only speaking when needed. He decided that it was her way of coping with the upcoming ground excursion and only clarified the exercises she assigned him.</p><p>It was after he’d completed several pull-ups and they settled on their customary crates that the silence was broken.</p><p>“Veyiz will come to you in her own time. She, like myself, has a history. It’s only fair that you hear her side of it to understand her actions last night.”</p><p>“I understand. What about yourself? Any air that needs to be cleared between us?”</p><p>Enis turned to look at him for a time, her eyes tracing over his features. The piercing gaze was unnerving to him, but he resolved not to flinch or turn away.</p><p>“I share the same feelings on slavers as Veyiz, as does the rest of the crew I imagine. As you said, the problem was finished, and you did what you could. As long as you continue to be truthful and honest that will suffice. Now I believe Crar could use your help in the armory before our briefing plan tonight.”</p><p>Hades nodded at the dismissal and left to shower and change before returning to help Crar.</p><p>oOo</p><p>The time before the briefing pass quickly as Hades worked with Crar to ensure weapons and armor were cleaned, charged and ready to go. Several geth units were also in the armory preparing their own weapons for the ground assault. He had watched as the platforms, along with Lela, tested the mass effect barriers and shielding on the Mantis gunships and shuttles in preparation for their atmospheric entry. Ares, the gigantic geth Prime platform, stood nearby coordinating operations in the hold. It was the first time Hades had ever truly felt short as he passed by the twelve-foot-tall being.</p><p>When Crar’s omni-tool chimed he called for Hades to follow him and together they headed up to the CIC where a floating map of the colony was displayed. The normal crew along with Daemon and another geth platform, that Hades recognized as Hephaestus from the Cerberus station where he was rescued, were gathered round the large center display.</p><p>The colony of New Canton was former Alliance territory that had been savaged by the Reaper Conflict. After the firing of the Crucible, and disruption of the Relays, there had been a need for ships and crew trapped in the local star systems to settle down and help as best they could. Now the colony was a thriving hub of roughly twenty-thousand settlers spread over a vast area. A small number of whom were based in the center hub with a large warehousing and shipping district, which had been the target of the mercenaries who attacked it.</p><p>Hades was handed a datapad by Calico and he glanced through the colony information it contained. There had been a small garrison of mixed militia troops and roughly twenty local mercenaries, but the total forces wouldn’t be good for much more than a deterrent. Reports indicated a rather substantial raiding force had overwhelmed the defensive measures and were focused on raiding the warehouses for supplies.</p><p>“So, what can we expect from this? Slavers or just raiders looking to grab and go on supplies?”</p><p>The first question was from Enis who was staring intently at her datapad.</p><p>Gailus spoke up, “Right now we’re not sure, the intel from the ground indicated they weren’t taking people and were mostly interested in valuables, credits and the warehouses where they were storing crops and their mined ore. Most likely just a merc group looking for a quick haul.”</p><p>Gailus paused to look around at the crew then at Hades, “While we have a few preliminary ideas on the basics of an assault, do you have anything that stands out to you?”</p><p>Hades blinked. “Sure, gimme a minute to look over the layout real fast. Any estimates on how large the ground force is?”</p><p>“Reports from the ground were somewhere around a hundred, their ship in orbit was reported to be a larger craft, but we’ll have to get closer to see exactly what kind. Mixed crew, typical for a merc company, but no logo identifying any of the big ones.”</p><p>He nodded at the reply, larger mercenary companies wouldn’t have bothered with a colony like this. They’d just attack the ships as they transited to a Relay, easier to grab the goods.</p><p>“So probably new crew then, going to have an experienced leader to keep that many people in line. Or a krogan with a nasty reputation.” He heard Crar chuckle lowly his answer.</p><p>Hades continued studying the settlement, it was standard prefab buildings with a central town hall. One main street ran through the center of the town while several others intersected with it along the route. Everything in the warehouse district was laid out in a standard grid pattern that you’d see with larger corporate interests. The planners always liked to have things nice and tidy. The rest was clearly built outward from a central point.</p><p>“So far what I see is a clear approach on all sides, looks like pretty flat country. Not ideal for a covert assault but I suppose once the gunfire starts it won’t matter. What’s the ground team consisting of?”</p><p>“The shuttles can handle twenty-four in one go. I’m planning on twenty geth platforms including Ares as well as Crar, Enis, Veyiz and myself. Calico and you will stay onboard and provide a tactical overview for us. We’ll also have the two gunships providing air support as needed.”</p><p>Hades nodded at Gailus’ answer, “Alright. If we’re not on the clock when we arrive and the colonists are huddled down in their emergency bunkers, I’d come in off the night side of the planet, follow the setting sun. Otherwise, it’ll have to be a fast hit. If you’re trying to send a message, I’d hit them from two directions, maybe the south and east edges. They have the most buildings and best cover into the settlement.”</p><p>He paused for a moment thinking.</p><p>“I’m not as familiar with how all of you fight as I should be to make a proper plan. But open ground like this typically necessitates a speedy assault. Time it with us taking out their ship up here and use the gunships to hit their shuttles and it’ll have them disorganized and running pretty quickly.”</p><p>Gailus raised a brow ridge, “Not a bad tactical assessment. What do you typically work with for planning?”</p><p>Hades let out a sigh, “Honestly, on something like this? Not much more. My team and I relied on each other to get the job done. We had basic rally points and a coordinated attack and retreat planned out, but typically we made it up on the fly. Too many times in training I watched someone plan something down to a detail, only to have them freeze up when decisions needed to be made. Or for that first bullet to fly and everything go to shit.”</p><p>The turian cocked his head in what Hades could only imagine was confusion. “You wouldn’t plan an operation for something like this?”</p><p>“Oh, I see.” Hades paused, trying to think of what he wanted to say. “For something like this we’d typically adjust on the fly. A proper operation would take a few weeks of planning, recon, loadout assessment and more intel. We left planning for non-immediate operations or something that wasn’t time sensitive. I’m assuming we’re operating on a timeline since it’s a merc raid on a relatively undefended colony. We don’t have the benefit of time on our side.”</p><p>He watched mandibles flare and a swift nod at his answer, “Good. I’d hate to think that your sole operating procedure was ‘by the seat of your pants’ as you humans say.”</p><p>Hades laughed, “No, though it works at times. For this I’d outline what you want to get done, plan the routes in and out and then leave it to the geth and your team to determine what needs to be done.” He shrugged, “There’s too many variables and not enough information to really plan this out beyond that.”</p><p>Looking to Gailus he saw the turian nod and switch the floating display to another viewpoint.</p><p>“Right now, we’re planning on something similar to what you suggested. I agree going in hard and fast is our best option, hopefully with some sort of distraction. Enis and Veyiz will lead a team and Crar and I will lead a second with Ares leading a third. That gives us good cover on three sides and a way to flush them out.”</p><p>Everyone nodded at the assessment and the next few hours were spent planning the assault in greater detail. Ares was looped in through Daemon and the rest of the crew added in their own input as necessary. Equipment was checked and then checked again while the shuttles and gunships were prepped for combat. The geth, Hades noted, were prepared well for a large-scale engagement. Even without the heavier units like the Armature or Destroyer there was a good mix of anti-infantry and heavy weapons units that would prove useful in a drawn-out skirmish.</p><p>Hades almost felt bad for the mercenaries on the ground when this fresh wave of hell dropped in on them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Next few chapters we get back to some action and fun with the crew. Kudos and Comments are greatly appreciated and I'd love to hear what people think so far. Huge thank you to everyone reading this, I know it's pretty far off the beaten path of Mass Effect, but we will start seeing familiar characters and places soon enough.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Ambush</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The ground teams make landfall on New Canton and Hades gets to see how the crew operates.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Decided to upload Chapter 11, feeling in a better place with Chapter 12 and the story moving forward. Decided to scrap the NSFW interlude I had written as it felt clunky to read and I wasn't happy with how much work it would take to fix it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hades stood with Calico in the CIC watching as the A.I., Artemisium, plotted the trajectory and estimated time of arrival for the gunships and shuttles. It had been roughly an hour since their departure and the room was tense with anticipation. He wasn’t sure if geth understood tension, but the units with them seemed focused regardless. Comms had been relatively silent, the geth not needing to relay in their position verbally.</p><p>“Commander, there are no craft detected in orbit around the planet, we will be able to provide reconnaissance support for the ground teams without interference.”</p><p>Hades watched Calico turn towards Daemon who had provided the update. They hadn’t been totally sure that the merc ship wasn’t waiting on the far side of the planet, but now they would be able to operate with freedom.</p><p>“Good, start scanning the colony and relay any pertinent troop movements to Gailus and Ares. They’ll want to know the updated figures. Find out where the enemy ship is, a frigate could have landed or they may have taken up position away from the planet for the moment.”</p><p>Daemon nodded at Calico and the holographic maps of the area began updating with enemy positions.</p><p>“Captain, I’d suggest also looking for larger heat sources. If you rule out mechanical equipment or machinery that may give us some indication of whether or not they rounded up the colonists or are holding them in separate areas.” Hades watched as Calico thought through the idea.</p><p>She looked up at him for a moment then turned to Daemon, “Do it, and start building a three-dimensional layout for us if there are any subterranean areas where the colonists could be hiding. We need to know if they made their emergency shelters or not.”</p><p>“It will be done Captain. Also, the shuttles are five minutes out from landing. No indications they were detected by ground forces.”</p><p>Hades watched Calico tense before relaxing, “They know what they’re doing Captain. It’s out of our hands now.”</p><p>She just narrowed her eyes at him before turning back to the screens in front of her as they flickered to life with the vitals and helmet cams of the teams on the ground.</p><p>“So, it begins.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>New Canton – Terminus System</strong>
</p><p>New Canton was one of a few garden worlds in the sector, lush forests and tall mountain ranges dotted the western hemisphere where the colony had formed. They descended into a large field, surrounded by a thick forest that would cover their approach to the colony before the terrain leveled out into grass plains. There would be little cover or room for error once they cleared the forest edge and Enis wasn’t particularly thrilled with that knowledge.</p><p>She sat strapped into her seat as the shuttle rumbled towards the ground. Ares was huddled in the center of the shuttle in his compacted form, legs and arms tucked into awkward positions to ensure his form could fit alongside the other geth units.</p><p>“Huntress Enis, the gunships are reporting a clear landing zone. No identifiable targets within five kilometers as planned. We will touch down in two minutes.”</p><p>Enis nodded at Ares who had come over her comm unit before holding up two fingers to Veyiz, receiving a nod in return. They unbuckled themselves from their seats and checked their Avenger rifles to ensure they were operational.</p><p>She watched Veyiz tug several pieces of her armor to more comfortable positions before rolling her shoulders in her usual pre-mission ritual. Enis practiced her breathing and a minute of clearing her mind before the shuttle doors opened to show the rapidly approaching ground. Around them the geth units simultaneously stood and pulled their pulse rifles from storage, the sounds of batteries powering up, coming in even over the howling of the wind.</p><p>“Touchdown in thirty seconds.”</p><p>Enis gripped her rifle tightly in her hands, waiting for the thump of the shuttle landing. When it came, she and Veyiz hustled off, rifles up covering for any surprises that may spring upon them. Behind them the nine geth platforms spread out in a semi-circle covering the exposed bay of the shuttle before Ares crouch walked out of the shuttle. Unfolding to the standard twelve-foot height the Prime unit pulled the massive pulse-cannon off it’s back while a combat drone manifested over its shoulder.</p><p>A soft wind rustled the grass around them and brought the scent of a fresh rain. Clouds lazily passed by overhead as the large sun beat down on them. They had forgone the original idea of a night raid, worried that the mercenaries wouldn’t be around long enough to execute it effectively.</p><p>Fifty yards away the second shuttle did the same with Crar and Gailus leading the way out of the shuttle with another ten platforms, spreading out in a similar fashion. With a roar the shuttle immediately took off in a near vertical lift, headed for the upper atmosphere to ensure they weren’t taken out by any ground forces.</p><p>Ares and the five geth assigned to its squad immediately turned and began heading off towards the far side of the colony, their ability to run without stopping gave them the advantage over the rest of the teams.</p><p>Enis’ communicator came to life, “All teams radio check.”</p><p>The teams checked in, no signs of interference or jamming audible over their chosen channel. Gailus, Ares and Enis took the callsigns Alpha-One, Two and Three, while Crar and Veyiz were Bravo-One and Two. Enis watched as Gailus and Crar checked weapons before they headed out towards the west side of the town, quickly disappearing into the tree line. Enis and Veyiz would be responsible for the south side where they would setup for a coordinated three-pronged pincer movement to drive the mercs outside of the colony and into their gunships.</p><p>“Alright, Charlie Unit we’re moving. We’ve got an hour to make it to the rally point.” Enis nodded at Veyiz who gave her a quick thumbs up in return.</p><p>The four geth units assigned to her nodded and began moving forward in a quick jog. The asari followed behind, weapons at a low ready in case of any kind of trouble. Periodic check-ins came over the radio from Gailus and Ares, mostly reporting no activity. It was later backed up by the Artemisium and Daemon who was monitoring their movement from the ship.</p><p>The gunships were also providing a roaming overwatch, their long-range sensor packages allowing them to scan for any heat sources or anomalies. The gunships would remain on a high orbit standby until they were called in for support, or the mercenaries were driven out into the open away from the colony.</p><p>Thirty minutes passed, and the groups began moving slower as they approached their target areas. Enis checked her omni and found they were roughly a kilometer out from where they were supposed to be with twenty minutes to go before they were due.</p><p>“Okay, Charlie we’re gonna standby for a moment. We’re early and I don’t want to get too close until we’re needed. It’ll take us less than ten minutes to make the rally from here. Standby and keep an eye out for hostiles.”</p><p>The geth, ever efficient, quickly spread out to cover several sectors of fire. Their lamp-like heads unnaturally still as they let their sensors roam the area. Veyiz and Enis each popped an energy gel and settled into the terrain to wait. The forest was relatively still and cool, various sounds of wildlife and wind through the trees the only disturbance as they waited.</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>SSV Artemisium - CIC</strong>
</p><p>“You mind if I ask a somewhat personal question Captain?”</p><p>Calico looked over at Hades as he continued to watch the visual representation of the battlefield.</p><p>“Anything within reason. I promise you’ll know real fast if it’s not.”</p><p>He smirked at the playful tone, knowing full well that Calico would most assuredly back that statement up if he asked something inappropriate.</p><p>“I noticed that you and Spectre Gailus are close. I just wanted to clarify what your relationship with him was. I think I may have done too good of a job holing myself up in my room or the medical-bay for the last few weeks.”</p><p>Calico simply shook her head at him, a small smile on her lips, the purple highlights in her hair shimmering in the lowlight of the CIC. “You did turn yourself into something of a recluse. But Gailus and I have been married for a while now. We’re coming up on five years in a few months.”</p><p>The look she gave him was calculating, clearly wondering how he’d react to the information.</p><p>“Well, like I told Enis I’m pretty sure all of you have much more interesting stories than I do. Congrats on almost five years though, I imagine it’s not easy with this lifestyle.”</p><p>He watched her nod, turning her attention back to the video feeds where the teams were slowly closing in on their rally points before the assault on the colony proper began. Hades noticed a certain tension in her form, unsure of which factor exactly was driving it.</p><p>“What’s on your mind?”</p><p>She turned to look at him, eyebrow cocked, pausing for a moment to look at him. “Is it that obvious?”</p><p>He gave a half smile, “Every operations officer I’ve ever met that had close connections with the team on the ground looked like you do right now.”</p><p>“You think I’d be used to this. Gailus has been doing this since well before we met, hell Turians start at fifteen in their military. But I haven’t felt this nervous since N-School. Something feels different about this I guess.”</p><p>Hades pulled back in surprise, “You were an N-School candidate? How far did you make it?”</p><p>Her knowing smile showed just how much of his surprise he let show in the question. “I made it most of the way through N-4. But I broke my left leg in three places in one of the obstacle courses. Medical release took care of the rest. You don’t think they just allow any officer to team up with a Spectre and run a cruiser like this do you?”</p><p>He shook his head at her amusement, “No, but I can’t say it’s something I would have expected, though it does explain a few things. But if I know anything about your crew here, it’s that they’ll be fine.”</p><p>It was at that moment the communications array came alive, “Overlord this is Alpha-One. Teams are set at the rallies. Any updates?”</p><p>Calico looked over the 3-D layouts that Daemon had built for them with the known survival shelters highlighted and various troop movements highlighted based on the information from the shuttles, gunships, and long-range sensors of the cruiser.</p><p>“Alpha-One this is Overlord. Have tracked several heat sources through the colony. Also tracking four patrols of four to six individuals on outskirts of the town. Current scans put roughly eighty-seven total hostiles on the ground. Passing coordinates now.”</p><p>Hades nodded at the succinct brief that Calico had given the ground teams. The brevity meant that this crew had clearly worked together quite a bit. He had noticed a tendency of less experienced teams to over explain a situation during his career.</p><p>“Overlord, Alpha-One. Understood, will adjust as appropriate. Break, Break. All teams, this is Alpha-One. Prepare to execute in five minutes. Alpha-One out.”</p><p>Hades turned towards the tactical overlay that Daemon had brought up, showing all friendly and enemy markers in the vicinity of the colony. The gunships, who were making lazy circles some twenty kilometers away from the area, began a figure-eight holding pattern to await any calls for air support.</p><p>In the three rally points the ground teams had setup the little blue dots began slowly moving towards the patrols they had been informed of. Hades felt the tension in the room ratchet up as he and Calico watched the progression on the map. He knew the fireteams were more than capable of taking out the sentries and the remaining mercenaries, but there was always that niggling bit of doubt that camped out in the back of the mind.</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>Charlie Unit – New Canton </strong>
</p><p>Enis readied her assault rifle while Veyiz did the same beside her. The geth units crouched in their unnaturally still positions, weapons readied. Her unit consisted mostly of assault troops and close combat units so they would have to take out their designated patrol in a coordinated ambush. They had waited while the patrol passed them on their route and setup to await their return down the well-worn path.</p><p>Herself, Veyiz and a geth unit that had retained a numeric designation had taken positions along a curve in the path that the mercs were traveling while the other geth units were aligned along the side in the form of an ‘L’. The goal was to stop the enemies from forward movement while assaulting them from the side, creating panic and an overwhelming situation for those under fire.</p><p>The natural tree line had provided good concealment for the geth units and the bend in the path meant that the patrol wouldn’t see Enis and her team until the last possible moment. The natural shade allowed herself and Veyiz to blend into the ground where they lay, while the geth units had to position themselves with a bit more strategy.</p><p>They could hear the mercenaries before they saw them, though Enis assumed the platforms with them knew exactly where the mercs were before she and Veyiz did. Loud and exuberant discussion floated along the air as the group proceeded down their path. The sound of crunching undergrowth and skitter of small stones proceeded the visual confirmation of their targets. The group was clearly at ease, weapons either slung low or holstered on their backs. Two humans, a salarian and two batarians made up the group, though Enis thought only the salarian had any awareness of his environment, eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.</p><p>Enis went over her comms to the geth platforms, “Standby, standby. When they hit our line-of-sight open fire.”</p><p>“Understood Huntress. Expect contact in thirty-seconds.”</p><p>Enis acknowledged the response and took aim through her optics where she expected the center mass of her targets to be. The sudden shuffle of the geth unit to her left let her know the enemies were closing in.</p><p>By her count it was another ten seconds before the first human strolled into view, laughing at some joke from his comrades as he looked around the area in a casual motion. Enis noted the mix of armor and weapons, some of it so out of date that she felt bad for a moment before she pulled the trigger. The ensuring maelstrom of gunfire drowned out the screams of dying aliens and the crack of ceramic plating as armor shattered and blood sprayed over the ground. The humans had attempted to bring their weapons to bear but were unsuccessful in the attempt, their broken bodies hitting the ground with a dull splat.</p><p>The batarians fared no better, one even trying to turn and run before being shot in the back by the geth platforms who were merciless in their efficiency. The salarian had managed to get off an overload on one of the platforms and brought his pistol around before all the geth platforms immediately swung to the threat and shredded his body with gunfire.</p><p>Enis was glad she had saved her biotics for later, none of the mercs had bothered to activate their shields while they were patrolling, adding to the speed of their demise. The entire engagement had taken less than a minute, the surprise and brutality catching the mercenaries off guard.</p><p>As the last body fell Enis watched as the geth platforms quickly stepped forward from their concealed positions and quickly confirmed the kill, each dead or dying merc getting two more shots to the chest and a shot to the head. Enis merely racked another thermal clip into her rifle before radioing Gailus.</p><p>“Alpha-One this is Alpha-Three. Confirm six hostiles eliminated, no injuries and no alarms. Pushing to initial assault point. How copy?”</p><p>Enis gave quick hand signals for Veyiz and the geth to move onward towards their next objective where they would coordinate with the other teams to begin the initial assault on the colony.</p><p>“Three, this is One. Copy all, Alpha-Two reported similar results. One out. We’re initiating contact on our patrol shortly. Alpha-One out.”</p><p>“So far so good huh? If the rest of the mercs are this fucking lazy then this’ll be a quick day. Can’t believe how they were acting. Hell, even fresh military recruits know better than this lot did.”</p><p>Enis turned at the disgust in Veyiz’ voice, the clear opinion of the mercenary’s capability evident as she kicked a rock out of her way. “Be happy we didn’t have a bigger fight early on. Still a large number to deal with ahead of us and if they’re at least checking in with their patrols on a regular basis we may not have much time.”</p><p>“Copy that, lets go finish these idiots.” Enis smiled at the determination in Veyiz’ voice and turned to follow her.</p><p>oOo</p><p>
  <strong>Alpha Unit – New Canton </strong>
</p><p>Gailus observed the mercenary patrol through his rifle’s optics, watching them as they moved in a loose formation down the road towards his team’s position. Crar had managed to get to an elevated position on a small cliff, where he had relayed the position of the mercs and their equipment to Gailus and the geth platforms accompanying them. Five of the ten geth with them were spread out around the area, monitoring for any resistance while the other half were lined up to ambush the six-man patrol.</p><p>The road had cut through a hill, big enough for large vehicles to travel down the well compacted terrain. Gailus figured it lead to one of the mines that the colony owned and the fact that the mercs were using it for their patrol only lowered his opinion of their skills. The terrain made it a perfect ambush point, with minimal hard cover for anyone to use, especially when his team had already taken the most advantageous spots for themselves.</p><p>“Crar, we’ll execute on your go. Take out the rear and then the front guard, it should confuse them for a moment.”</p><p>Gailus only heard a grunt in return, but he had faith in the krogan to do his job and his skills with a sniper rifle never needed questioning, even if the ammo choice at times did. High-explosive rounds on soft targets meant thorough armor cleanings afterwards.</p><p>The voices of the mercs began to drift over to him as the group made their way down the path. He took in the older armor and less than optimal equipment but did notice that they at least held some situational awareness of their environment. Someone had, at the very least, instructed them in the basics. He counted two salarians, a turian, two humans and an asari in the group.</p><p><em>‘The turian or asari is most likely to be in charge,’ </em>he thought, shifting his sights to waver between the two. <em>‘Wonder if I’m just biased or spent too much time with Enis. Doesn’t matter I suppose, they’ll be dead in less than a minute.’</em></p><p>He leveled his sights on the asari, more for their biotics than any other reason and waited for Crar to make their presence known. He didn’t have to wait long to hear the boom of the M-98 Widow and the destruction of the human who had the unfortunate luck of bringing up the rear of the formation. He watched a fountain of red as the round tore through the center mass of the target, cracked ceramic plating and plastics flying everywhere as the armor the human was wearing disintegrated.</p><p>He watched the remaining mercenaries spin to see the death of their comrade before a second booming crack sounded from somewhere behind him and the salarian who had been in front was killed via headshot, most of his face disappearing in a font of green blood.</p><p>He squeezed the trigger on his Phaeston rifle, the rounds chattering out towards the asari who had managed to pull up her barrier while her squad died around her. The geth platforms next to him opened fire with their counterparts who had been concealed in the tree line on the side of the path. Return fire sounded from the mercs who had managed to gather their wits and spray wildly at the unknown enemies accosting them.</p><p>Several quickly scrambled for cover, diving behind trees or one of several boulders that lined the curve in the road. The second human was tossed sideways, a large hole through his chest as Crar’s Widow echoed for a third time. Gailus watched as the geth platforms began marching forward, pulse rifles sounding in a staccato beat as they alternated reloads and automatic fire between the platforms.</p><p>The second salarian fell trying to operate his omni-tool and get behind a boulder for cover, twitching as he was riddled with holes from the geth platforms. The asari had ducked behind cover along with the turian, their panicked voices coming through Gailus’ audio receivers in his helmet.</p><p>The geth platforms began maneuvering around to get a clean angle on the last two enemies but Gailus began worrying about an alarm going out to the colony. He rose from his prone position next to a large rock outcropping and sprinted towards where he’d seen the two mercs take cover. The enemy turian suddenly appeared over top of his boulder, weapon shouldered and finger on the trigger.</p><p>A fourth boom rang out and he caught the enemy turian’s head snap back from where he’d risen as Crar’s shot punched through both the turian’s shields and helmet. Blue blood and gore sprayed out in a mist as the body dropped from view. Gailus flicked a mandible in a smile as he raced towards the asari’s position knowing that Crar had his back. The geth followed suit, ensuring that if the merc so much as popped her head out it would be swiftly removed.</p><p>He vaulted over the boulder, omni-blade out and moving downward as the asari brought her shotgun up to try and defend herself. He watched the blade enter between her neck and shoulder, vibrant purple blood splashing over the rocks. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as the blade pushed through armor and tissue to her heart, a hand coming up to grab at his arm. He watched as the life left her eyes, finger slipping off the trigger of her weapon as it fell next to her now still body.</p><p>Pulling his omni-blade from her corpse he swiftly rose to evaluate the area and check for any further enemies. He watched as the geth platforms immediately took on a security role, facing outward in a large circle for any approaching enemies.</p><p>“Alpha-Three this is Alpha-One, patrol eliminated. Proceeding as planned.”</p><p>The confirmation from Ares followed his call to Enis and he radioed Crar to rejoin the team, swiftly setting off towards their next objective and the colony.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you again for everyone who's still here and reading. Kudos and comments are always appreciated. Please let me know if the shifting viewpoints or radio communications were confusing or hard to follow. The goal is to have them be realistic but still easy to follow for anyone who doesn't do it for a living.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Murphy's Law</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>No plan survives first contact with the enemy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>SSV Artemisium - CIC</strong>
</p><p>“Overlord this is Alpha-One. All patrols successfully neutralized, and all teams are at the rendezvous points. Need a sit-rep on the colony. How copy?”</p><p>Calico activated the comm unit, “Understood Alpha-One. Stand-by.”</p><p>Hades had already moved to pull up the map of the colony with Daemon and he watched as the previous hostile markers continued to mill around in whatever activities they were in the middle of.</p><p>“Captain, no alarms were raised with the death of the patrols, though we are unsure of any communication protocols they may be using. Based on current forces as well as enemy disposition we recommend a swift assault.”</p><p>Hades turned to look at Daemon, wondering what had the geth giving that particular bit of advice. Calico, apparently wondering the same asked him to clarify.</p><p>Daemon brought up a small cluster of dots that had remained relatively stationary for the duration of the current operation.</p><p>“Consensus is that this is a command-and-control operation, or some sort of organized unit. Several times an individual has moved towards it, paused, and then returned to his group which then alters their movement pattern. This suggests orders or instructions being given. If there is such organization then the loss of three patrols will be noticed sooner than later and we will lose the element of surprise.”</p><p>Calico nodded, “Great. Okay relay the current data we have to the ground teams. Update Gailus and have Aries coordinate with the gunships to time their arrival. Hit any large targets or groups that are in the open first and drive anyone away from the survival shelters after.”</p><p>Daemon nodded, fingers moving over the haptic displays to relay the necessary information, head flaps twitching as he worked.</p><p>Hades watched as Calico relayed the necessary information to Gailus quickly before the blue dots marking the friendly teams began moving quickly in towards the colony village.</p><p>
  <em>‘Spirits guide them.’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>Charlie Unit – New Canton </strong>
</p><p>Enis had broken into a quick jog at the news from the Artemisium, Gailus moving up their timetable to ensure that they would be arriving at the village hopefully before the missing patrols were noticed.</p><p>“Alpha-One to Alpha-Three. Be advised, Alpha-Two will be directing gun runs against targets prior to our assault. Reports indicate several hardened positions and possible heavy weapons.”</p><p>Enis clicked on her comms, “Three to One. Understood, we’ll mark targets via our platforms as needed for coordination with Alpha-Two. Three out.”</p><p>“Heavy weapons huh? Sounds exciting. Hopefully there’s some decent equipment to take off of them.”</p><p>Enis shook her head at Veyiz’ enthusiasm, “I bet that attitude stops the second we take a rocket in our direction. Could use a few more snipers if we’re going up against heavier weapons though. We need to get Hades outfitted, would be nice to return the favor when they start launching explosives at us.”</p><p>She heard Veyiz snort next her, “That’s why we brought the gunships Enis. We’ll be fine, between us and the geth, these guys won’t stand a chance.”</p><p>“I hope you’re right.” Enis clicked her comms, “One, Three. We’re coming up on the outskirts of the colony. Two minutes to contact.”</p><p>The double chirp in her ear let her know Gailus had understood the message. A platform behind her spoke up, “Huntress Enis, the gunships are one minute out. Aries has designated several targets for them already. Sensors are showing several fortified positions along the main thoroughfares through the colony.”</p><p>“Got it. Alright everyone, don’t wait to begin engaging targets. You see a merc or anyone without a colony tag on their omni, take them out.”</p><p>Enis could hear the scream of engines behind them as the two gunships began their approach. She smiled knowing that the mercs within the colony would be running for cover and hopefully disorganized by the sudden attack.</p><p>Several missiles streaked from the gunships, and explosions from where they hit could be seen further into the town.</p><p>“Alpha-One and Alpha-Three this is Alpha-Two. Reports of entrenched positions, a command-and-control center and heavy weapons are coming from the gunships. Mark targets and we will prioritize assistance.”</p><p>Enis could hear background noise through Ares radio and the ‘whump’ of the pulse cannon the Prime carried. Enis gripped her rifle tight to her shoulder, ready for what she expected to be swift contact. Gailus followed up with his acknowledgement of Ares’ report and she could hear more gunfire over the radio and in the distance as the turian and his team engaged enemy forces.</p><p>“Contact front!” Veyiz called, her rifle up and firing at several forms at the edge of the colony roughly a hundred meters away. Enis watched as her barriers flared to life along with Veyiz’ while the geth behind them quickly pushed forward, their armor and shields better suited to take the incoming fire. Chunks of dirt and terrain kicked up around them from missed and deflected rounds while they returned fire at the group of five individuals who had spotted them. The mercs had stepped out from the cluster of buildings that was the team’s initial objective. The prefab structures offering little to no cover to the mercs, but a good holding point for Enis’ team.</p><p>“We’ve got to make it to the buildings before they get reinforcements to their front line!”</p><p>The geth units in front of her simply picked up speed, their rifles alternating as they fired and changed thermal clips. The gap quickly closed with the mercenaries pulling back once one of their number had been taken out. The team sprinted the last few meters to the buildings, gunfire ricocheting off the buildings around them as it picked up in intensity.</p><p>Enis slammed into the prefab structure rifle up and firing at a batarian who had turned around to shoot at them. She watched as her shots slammed into his shields and then through them, holes appearing in his armor, red blood splashing as the batarian fell backwards. His companions didn’t turn around at his cries of pain but kept moving towards what she assumed was more of their people.</p><p>Enis gave a quick wave for the team to continue forward, the geth scanning for any enemy contacts. Both she and Veyiz relaxed their barriers while they weren’t being engaged and moved forward rifles up and ready for danger. They could hear shouts and yells from the mercenary group as the word spread of their arrival. In the distance they could hear more gunfire and explosions, presumably from Gailus and Ares and their respective teams.</p><p>They were on the south end of the colony where most of administration was headquartered. Six large prefab structures were laid out in a squared grid fashion that offered good cover and numerous potential ambush locations. At the moment, she was most concerned with the possibility of moving into one of the reinforced positions Ares had mentioned earlier.</p><p>Pushing past the first set of buildings her team cleared the alleyways on either side while Veyiz kept watch on their front. The smooth whir of geth pulse rifles sounded as yells came from the alleyway to the right of where they’d started. Turning she saw a turian and two batarians duck back into the door they’d come through.</p><p>“Vey, time for some room clearing, three contacts in the building to our right.” She pointed at two of the geth, “Watch the door and alert us if we have more hostiles inbound, you two with me.”</p><p>She changed out her thermal clip and watched as Veyiz traded her rifle for her shotgun the weapon unfolding smoothly in her hands as her barriers flared back to life. Enis pulled up her own biotics and smiled as the dark energy flowed over her once more. It was a comforting feeling knowing that the extra protection was there.</p><p>Veyiz charged through the door, her shotgun booming, and loud yells followed. Enis quickly followed the huntress dumping several more rifle rounds into one batarian that had been taken down by Veyiz and sending a shockwave at the turian and batarian who had flipped a table for cover. The heavy table slid backwards, knocking down the two mercs who had taken cover, while the geth filed in, pulse rifles sounding in the close space. Chunks of the table began disappearing, large holes appearing as Veyiz fired her shotgun again and again.</p><p>Two rifles appeared around either side of the heavy desk, firing wildly in an attempt to discourage their attackers. The two geth platforms quickly adjusted fire and began firing at the general location the turian and batarian would have to be for them to blindly fire around the table.</p><p>Splashes of blue and red blood quickly stained the floor as Veyiz used her biotics to toss the table into a corner, breaking it to pieces from all the damage it had taken. Enis quickly stepped forward as thermal clips were changed behind her and put two shots into the heads of the turian and batarian to confirm their deaths.</p><p>Veyiz had stepped forward to look out the window, storing her shotgun and pulling the rifle she carried as she moved.</p><p>“We got more movers outside, looks like a dozen scattered between the buildings and a barricade. What the fuck is…GET DOWN!”</p><p>Enis immediately threw herself to the ground barriers up as strong as she could make them while Veyiz hurled herself away from the window. Both geth units immediately kneeled as soon as Veyiz had said anything and brought their rifles to bear against the unknown threat.</p><p>The loud booming chatter of a turret broke the atmosphere as large holes began appearing in the walls of the prefab structure. Dust and debris rained down on the team as they took cover and because crawling towards the doorway they’d entered through. The large caliber slugs ripped through the home turning the walls into dust and quickly threatening to compromise the structure’s integrity. The turret was sweeping in a left to right motion through the house, systematically moving lower as it did so. Whoever was operating it clearly intended to leave no chance of survivors.</p><p>Enis watched as rounds skipped off the geth shields before one of the units took several slugs in a row. She watched as rounds punched through its chest, gaping holes and flying bits of scrap and fluid painting the walls. She watched the light on its ‘face’ flicker rapidly as it tried to upload back to the Artemisium as its systems shut down. Not a second later the next slug from the turret slammed through its face, bits of circuitry and metal flying over the room. The unit slumped over with a thud and Enis grimaced at the loss.</p><p>“Target has been pinged and prioritized by platform Ares. Time on Target is twelve seconds huntress Enis.”</p><p>“Well thank fuck for that, why didn’t we see this on the initial scans?”</p><p>Enis just shook her head and kept moving, several shots jolting her as they hit her barriers and she grunted at the feedback she received. “Worry about it later Veyiz, the whole goddess damned building is about to come down on top of us.”</p><p>After what felt like an eternity of gunfire and dust, they exited the building, the two geth outside having repositioned away from the initial assault and were busy attempting to return fire at the dozen mercenaries that had ambushed them. They quickly split between the two buildings on either side of the now ruined office structure.</p><p>“Alpha-One this is Three! Be aware of gun turrets and heavily fortified defenses. Lots of kinetic barriers and heavy weapons.”</p><p>Gailus came over the radio, calm as only a turian and a Spectre could be in the current situation, “Understood Three, Ares is working on gun-runs now.”</p><p>Overhead the two A-61 gunships circled in a fast-paced pattern to throw off ground fire and opened up with their autocannons and missiles. Several explosions rocked the area and Enis took cover behind the wall of the building she had sprinted to. Screams of panicked and dying men echoed through the air as the gunships wreaked havoc on the entrenched mercenaries. Enis peered around the corner to see the enemy diving for cover or attempting to fire upwards at the gunships raining destruction on them.</p><p>They had constructed several kinetic barricades around a large turret that was attempting to target the gunships as they flew above. The roughly dozen mercs had taken up positions within the barricades and various crates that formed a small defensible circle.</p><p>
  <em>‘They were prepared for an assault…what the fuck is going on here? These guys aren’t like those idiots we ambushed earlier, and they look like they know what they’re doing. That turret certainly isn’t standard raiding fare either.’</em>
</p><p>Enis wasn’t happy at the turn of events and decided that something would need to be done quickly. She motioned to Veyiz to get the huntress’ attention before signaling for her to throw a singularity at the fortifications. She watched her nod before moving out of cover to channel the energy required. In the middle of the fortified position the glowing energy manifested itself and several of the mercs were pulled towards it, struggling in a futile attempt to free themselves from the pull. Enis for her part channeled a warp and directed it towards those caught in the singularity’s pull, watching with a sense of satisfaction as several mercs dove out of their cover to avoid the coming destruction.</p><p>The combined biotics detonated, a small noise amongst the gunfire and carnage from the gunships and geth. But the results had the desired effect. Armor, weapons and limbs as well as various colors of blood splashed out from the shockwave caused by the unstable dark energy. The mercs unfortunate enough to not get far enough away were thrown violently from their positions, flashes of shields and barriers dispelling from the force of the energy. Those who had dove from cover found themselves under immediate assault from the three remaining geth as well as the two huntresses who showed them no mercy as they gunned them down. Several more rockets and the whine of mass accelerator autocannons cut through the noise as the gunships finished off the turret and any remaining survivors that survived the brutal assault.</p><p>Enis went for her comm-link to update the ground teams as well as the Artemisium, “All call-signs this is Alpha-Three. We have heavy weapons confirmed on the ground along with barricades and defensive positions. Break break. Overlord this is Three, what are you seeing down here?”</p><p>
  <strong>SSV Artemisium - CIC</strong>
</p><p>Hades could see the stress in Calico’s face as she dealt with the incoming flood of information from the gunships, Ares, and the ground teams. What had initially been thought to be a simple ‘get in, kick ass, get out’ operation had turned out to be something very different.</p><p>“Alpha-Teams this is Overlord. Standby for an update, we’re sending updates and planning in two minutes.”</p><p>Hades hoped he hadn’t overstepped his bounds, but he knew that at times simply having a voice on the radio for ground teams was more supportive than not. While the fortified positions hadn’t been a surprise, the layout and design of them had. They were in strategically viable control points through the colony along the most obvious paths of entry, clearly designed to hold off a larger force. The turrets and their capabilities had been a rather unwelcome surprise however, especially considering they were not the run of the mill anti-infantry setups but designed to kill vehicles and armored transports.</p><p>
  <em>‘Probably the only reason we don’t have more dead right now, they’re a bit slower firing and take longer to track than the smaller units.’</em>
</p><p>Hades turned from his thoughts back to Calico and Daemon who were hurriedly scrolling through the three-dimensional hologram of the colony. The gunships were doing their jobs, but the amount of troops on the ground made it hard for them to stay in any one position long enough to do any serious damage. The teams would need to be close by to draw fire or disable some of the defensive turrets around the colony.</p><p>“How did we miss the heavy defense Daemon? We should have detected the turrets at the very least.”</p><p>Calico looked like she was ready punch something and Hades wouldn’t put it past her knowing that her husband was down there in the clusterfuck of a situation.</p><p>“Captain, we’ve determined that the ground forces below were anticipating a reaction force. However, we believe that we infiltrated the colony with enough stealth that they didn’t get their equipment operational until just now. We are showing multiple defensive positions that have large power draws and heat signatures. Presumably these would have been prepared once a larger force was detected planet-side. They would have been ideally activated at the last minute to avoid the scans.”</p><p>Calico simply growled in response, “Alright, update the teams and get all active and passive sensors going. There’s no way there’s not a ship around here somewhere. I want to be ready when it returns.”</p><p>“Yes Captain.”</p><p>Hades watched as Calico ran a hand through her hair and glared at the hologram as images and reports came in from Ares and the geth platforms. The Prime’s team was faring better than the others due the geth pulse cannon that was able to destroy the kinetic barriers and turrets with ease. The helmet cameras on everyone else showed a hell of a firefight in some areas and Hades smiled as Enis and Veyiz dismantled their emplaced gun position with biotics.</p><p>“Hades.” He turned at the sound of his nickname towards Calico who made a sweeping gesture at the hologram, “Any tactical insight would be much appreciated right about now.”</p><p>He winced internally at the amount of stress in her voice, clearly this wasn’t a situation she or her team were used to being in.</p><p>“Captain my advice amounts to using the gunships as much as possible to clear the fortified positions. You could potentially consolidate the teams as well, give them more firepower. However, it seems that they’re all capable of handling one of the fortifications on their own.”</p><p>He turned towards the display of the colony and troop positions, “The mercs are setup for a classic large formation defense. They were expecting Alliance or Turian military and in greater numbers. Those turrets aren’t designed for anti-infantry roles and they’re near useless as anti-aircraft. But there’s a lot of them and the firepower is considerable. Focus on one fortification at a time and move quickly to the next one. They’ve formed their positions around a fighting retreat, you cut that off and you have them by the throat.”</p><p>Calico stared at him for a moment and he wished that he had a better answer for her, but without better air support he couldn’t see another way forward.</p><p>“I’ll pass it to the teams.”</p><p>He nodded at her acceptance of his idea and silently began hoping the spirits were watching over those on the ground. Of course, in the spectacular fashion of Murphy’s Law alarms began to blare through the CIC.</p><p>“Captain we have detected a hostile vessel approaching at high speed from out of system, ship design would indicate a heavy destroyer. Further details unknown. Five minutes to extended missile range.”</p><p>The number of curses both galactic common, turian and several earth languages that Calico let out would have made most military members blush. Hades just smiled and watched as the captain pulled herself together and began relaying immediate orders.</p><p>He could feel the ship begin a hard burn towards their target, Calico intended to strike the first and last blow and a shot from the main gun of the cruiser would most definitely provide that.</p><p>“Artemisium, get the GARDIAN system ready, start spinning up the main gun and get me a firing solution on both the torpedoes and broadside cannons if we get in close. Seal off all non-vital sections of the ship and have Lela and the Doc report to the CIC. Lockdown protocols for the ship and depressurize any areas that don’t require active atmosphere.”</p><p>She turned to Hades, “I need to get to the bridge to deal with this. Lela and Doctor Tinoko will be joining you shortly. Work with Daemon to relay information to the ground teams. Can I trust you to do that?”</p><p>Hades unconsciously straightened, “Of course Captain. Daemon will keep you in the loop I’m sure. We’ll let you know if anything changes.”</p><p>He watched as she nodded and hurried forward to the main bridge compartment, the heavy door closing behind her with a heavy hydraulic hiss.</p><p>He keyed the comm-link to the ground teams, “Alpha-Teams this is Overlord. We have a developing situation up here; all current tactical information is being relayed now.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Once again thanks for all the views and Kudos. I hope everyone is enjoying this story, any thoughts, comments or critiques would be appreciated. </p><p>-Grim</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. No Survivors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The SSV Artemisium engages the enemy vessel and things on the ground get exciting.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Very sorry for the late update everyone. Had a bit of a slump there for a while between school and other things. Chapter 14 is in the works and will be on time for the next update.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Alpha Unit – New Canton </strong>
</p><p>Gailus looked at his omni-tool as a data stream from the ship came through. Hades was in his ear explaining the current situation and the development above the planet. Rounds whizzed by as gunfire echoed through the prefab buildings. The heavy turret was pounding out a staccato bass of suppressing fire as Crar let off a return shot from his rifle that he watched power through the mercenary’s shields and shatter his armor before the body dropped out of sight.</p><p>“Nice shot Crar. We gotta take out that turret though, any ideas?”</p><p>The Krogan took a quick peek around the half wall he was crouched behind before a sudden burst of gunfire pushed him back down.</p><p>“Got at least five mercs, the turret and probably a couple more behind the barriers. If we can take out either the generator or put me in a spot to shoot the main housing of that turret, we should be able to take it offline.”</p><p>Gailus nodded and turned to look back at the geth units that were returning accurate fire on the enemy. Looking back around the corner of the house, sudden movement drew his eye, and he recognized the telltale shape of a ML-77 launcher hoisted on the shoulder of a turian mercenary.</p><p>“Get down!” Gailus threw himself back against the wall and opened his mouth to prevent the overpressure from causing any other injuries. Further down the way Crar did the same and the geth around them shifted their fire in an attempt to put down the enemy.</p><p>The explosion threw rubble and debris over Gailus and he watched as a large chunk of a barricade two geth had been behind landed in front of him, landing heavily with a thump. Turning he looked back to see the sparking wreckage of the two geth platforms, pieces of smoldering armor and twisted limbs all that was left.</p><p>He grabbed up his Phaeston from where he’d dropped it in the scramble to take cover and began returning fire at the mercenaries.</p><p>“Crar, hit that fucker with the missile launcher. We just lost two of our platforms.”</p><p>He watched the large sniper nod and take off at a sprint to get better positioning. Shifting his focus, he fired several shots to suppress the enemy before taking off at a sprint himself to shift his cover. Another scream of a missile broke through the noise of battle and Gailus threw himself behind a low wall again. This time however the ‘whump’ of the missile was followed by the sound of Crar’s rifle firing.</p><p>“Got ‘im Boss, counting four left.” Another shot this time with an added punch of something exploding and the cries of the injured and dying. “Got a shot in that turret, it’s fucked and the Geth took out the last mercs.”</p><p>Gailus stood, rifle at a low ready position in case reinforcements arrived to the now destroyed defensive position. The charred and broken remains of his two geth platforms joined the ten dead mercenaries. Gailus kicked over a few of the corpses, taking note of the armor and weapons they were equipped with.</p><p>The two gunships they’d brought planet side screamed overhead, guns chattering, as calls for fire screened over his helmet’s heads-up display.</p><p>“All teams, be aware, the mercs have ML-77’s. We just lost two platforms. Alpha-Two, what’s your status?”</p><p>Gailus scanned the surrounding buildings, eyes on the windows for any movement, knowing that Crar or the geth would be the first to spot anything out of the ordinary.</p><p>“Alpha-One, we are advancing through the defensive positions with minimal casualties. We have disabled several positions and eliminated roughly two dozen enemy targets. We estimate between one-half and two-thirds of the original force remaining. We agree with the plan from Overlord, though we suggest that Alpha and Charlie regroup to provide more effective combat support.”</p><p>Gailus quickly brought up his omni-tool to check the current ground layout. They had taken out several of the defensive positions and the information coming in from the Artemisium showed most of the troops condensing on the more interior positions. Aries had taken out a large chunk of the fortifications and would be able to continue his assault, the heavy weapons he carried more than adequate for the large-scale destruction needed.</p><p>“Copy that Alpha-Two. Break break, Alpha-Three this is One, we’re making our way to you. Send us your position.”</p><p>“Understood One, sending now.”</p><p>Gailus caught the sounds of gunfire and battle through his comms and motioned for Crar to join him, snorting as the sniper jumped down from the three story pre-fab he’d been positioned on. The other geth platforms quickly circled up and Gailus led them off at a quick pace. Several times the geth platforms quickly eliminated one or two stragglers from the retreating mercenary band before Gailus was even aware of their presence.</p><p>
  <em>‘Thank the Spirits the geth didn’t just decide to wipe out everyone after the Reaper war. Probably would have been more efficient for them than working with us.’</em>
</p><p>oOo</p><p>Enis gasped in a breath, her body coming back to itself and the sudden shock of pain registering, the heat of the missile lingering in the air. Voices came to her slowly, as if they were far away or coming from underwater. They were yelling something, and Enis thought she heard her name several times.</p><p>“Enis!” A hand appeared in her vision before grabbing her shoulder and giving her a rough shake. The boom of a rifle echoed, and the sounds of battle filtered back into her delayed senses. The smell of burning materials, ash, smoke, and explosives lingered in the air as she took in another coughing breath.</p><p>A large three-fingered hand appeared, and she pushed off the ground to grab it, the swift tug upwards bringing her to her feet. She watched as Veyiz eyed her critically, assessing her for injuries before clapping her on the shoulder and stalking off to their perimeter.</p><p>Enis looked up at Gailus who was checking her over more thoroughly with the aid of one of the geth platforms.</p><p>“You were in the blast radius of one of the missiles. Veyiz saw you pop a barrier just as it hit but you got tossed pretty good. Scans aren’t showing any internal injuries, but you’re gonna have plenty of bruising and tomorrow morning isn’t going to be pleasant.”</p><p>Enis shook her head, “Oh good. Crar put a bullet in him? Heard him shooting once I came back to it.”</p><p>Gailus flicked a mandible and snorted, “Yea, he took him out with extreme prejudice. High explosive round to the chest.” The turian looked her in the eye, “Pretty sure he has a crush on you.”</p><p>Enis stared at him for a long moment before they both broke down in a quiet giggle fit. Crar tended to overcompensate when one of the crew was injured, though this had been mild in comparison to some of his previous antics.</p><p>“Alright, get me my fucking rifle and let’s go finish these assholes.” Enis dusted herself off and collected her rifle from Gailus, giving Crar a quick smile and nod before joining back with Veyiz. The team reformed and began a quick pace towards their next objective.</p><p>
  <strong>SSV Artemisium - CIC</strong>
</p><p>Lela and Doctor Tinoko had joined Hades in the CIC, both armed and with several more geth behind them. The doctor had a helmet and was currently fitting a hardsuit with assistance from Lela. The quarian of course was self-sufficient with her own enviro suit and Hades began hoping that the CIC was buried far enough in the ship to not be affected by a direct impact from an enemy’s missile.</p><p>“How are things going? We haven’t gotten much of an update.”</p><p>Hades turned to Lela before gesturing at the holographic display he was looking at. “So far we’re experiencing much heavier resistance than we expected. The mercenary group was prepared for what I can only assume was a larger retaliation force and not a covert strike team. The teams have made good progress, but there’s something like forty hostiles left that we can detect. We’re down three geth platforms and the closer they get the more resistance they’re going to encounter.”</p><p>He watched Lela cock her head at the information, but with her faceplate on he could only tell she was taking in his information.</p><p>“Oh, and we’re currently going head-to-head with a heavy destroyer class vessel that came from beyond the system. We’ll be in missile range shortly and we’re waiting for a good shot from the main cannons.”</p><p>“Sounds like a mess.”</p><p>Hades turned to Lela, the quarian taking a seat at one of the available consoles, the automatic safety restraints clicking into place.</p><p>“You could say that.”</p><p>Hades grabbed onto his console as the ship shuddered and ‘thunked’ several times in rapid succession. Daemon spoke out to the unasked question in the room.</p><p>“Missiles away, time-on-target, two minutes. Main guns are completing charging cycles and we are tracking inbound enemy missiles, similar E.T.A.”</p><p>Doctor Tinoko quickly found a seat, “Well I can’t say that I’m happy to be in this situation, but it sounds like it’s well in hand.”</p><p>Hades thought the older man was putting on a decent poker face, but the typical nervousness still shone through. He himself wasn’t exactly comfortable with the situation, not knowing how Calico operated as a ship captain only added to that stress.</p><p>Daemon turned towards the doctor, “The ship is more than capable of countering our current threat Doctor Tinoko. Any damage we take should be minimal with our shielding and armor.”</p><p>Hades watched Tinoko nod before gripping his seat a little tighter as they felt the ship began a sharp maneuver.</p><p>
  <em>’Presenting a broadside maybe? Old-school tactics…or Turian…note to self, ask Calico where she learned to drive.’</em>
</p><p>Hades allowed himself a small smile at the thought of asking the Captain about starship driving lessons but returned his attention to the ongoing battle planet side.</p><p>“Alpha-One this is Overlord. We are showing forty-four hostiles left. Also showing signs of an organized pullback to a defensive position on the edge of the settlement. Looks like they may try to make a run for their ship. Most of the heavy turrets can be avoided by going through the smaller side routes or the gunships can take them out with minimal resistance. Forwarding targeting packages and current movements.”</p><p>Hades watched as the data-burst received confirmation came across his console and turned to Dameon. “Current time on those missiles?”</p><p>The geth swiveled its ‘head’ to him, “Time to intercept is forty seconds for the GARDIAN system, forty-five seconds to impact. We recommend you take a chair Hades.”</p><p>He nodded and settled into one of the available seats in the CIC, the restraints coming over his chest and lap while he adjusted the system so he could access the console.</p><p>“Standby for impact!” Calico’s voice came over the intercom as the lights in the CIC dimmed slightly, the exaggerated power draw for the defensive systems the cause.</p><p>Hades did his best to imagine what it looked like outside the ship at that moment. He’d seen enough ship-to-ship battles to understand the basics. The missiles would most likely be a cluster style munition system followed by the larger armor-busters designed to penetrate the hull or destroy the main weapons on the ship.</p><p>The GARDIAN system had a one hundred percent hit rate, but if you overwhelmed a ship with too many targets you could sneak a missile or fighters past the defensive screen while the systems cooled.</p><p>“Fighters deployed.”</p><p>Hades looked up at the interruption to his thoughts by the A.I. He’d totally forgotten about their fighter complement and briefly wondered if the other ship would be deploying any fighters of its own. The Geth Interceptor craft were extraordinarily maneuverable and would prove the greater asset in such a fight, but against a typical destroyer like the one they were engaging, the limited numbers wouldn’t prove beneficial.</p><p>“Brace for impact!” Calico’s strained voice came over the intercom just as the ship shuddered, jostling everyone in the CIC. “Artemisium I need a damage report to my terminal now!”</p><p>
  <em>‘That can’t be good.’</em>
</p><p>“Understood Captain. Assessing damage. Twenty seconds. No significant impacts registered on attacking craft. However, they have a GARDIAN system as well.”</p><p>Hades did his best to pay attention to the ground forces while Calico started giving orders, burning the ship hard to close the distance and give them a full compliment of the broadside mass accelerator cannons. He could hear a loud whine start as the lighting lowered further and electricity popped in the air.</p><p>“Ranging and charging complete for the main cannon Captain. Ready for your orders.”</p><p>The computerized voice of the A.I. came over the intercom and Hades looked at the current targeting information for the Mass Accelerator Cannons. The enemy ship had deigned it a better option to close with the cruiser, either for boarding purposes or to avoid the main cannon. To Hades it didn’t make much tactical sense, but who knew what a mercenary pilot knew of space combat. If the slug from the Artemisium hit that would be the end of the fight, but in the several seconds between charging, firing and realignment the enemy destroyer could theoretically evade or give a last-ditch effort to fire its own ordinance at the cruiser. And the Artemisium certainly wasn’t the nimblest of ships.</p><p>The whine grew to a fever pitch before the ship recoiled as the Mass Accelerator Cannon fired its payload. Several more ‘thunks’ followed as more missiles were fired in an attempt to prevent the enemy destroyer from diverting from its current course. The CIC grew silent in tense waiting, breaths held to hear the outcome of the fired ordinance.</p><p>Lela turned to look at Hades, “Do you think we got them?”</p><p>Hades shrugged before spinning to see his screens flashing red. The destroyer had gone with the last-ditch attempt of both firing what he guessed was every missile they had as well as their own main cannon and a salvo of broadside fire before ‘diving’ in an effort to avoid the massive slug headed their way.</p><p>“Everyone hold on. This is gonna be bumpy.”</p><p>Hades wasn’t sure how Calico managed to sound so calm when certain destruction was headed their way. The last salvo of warheads had been only a third of what was headed for them now and they had taken several hits in that salvo alone.</p><p>“Fighters engaging the missiles now. They can eliminate roughly twenty percent of the missiles before they hit GARDIAN range Captain.”</p><p>“Understood Artemisium. Power down the main cannon, give me a full broadside compliment and position us for maximum defensive capabilities. Push all power to shields and GARDIAN system. And what’s the status on that enemy ship!”</p><p>“Standby Captain, impact in three…two…one…Direct hit on enemy ship. The slug impacted port side towards their engines. The missiles are inbound in twenty seconds but I’m detecting loss of power from their engines and systems. Enemy missile impact in thirty seconds.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Spirits help us.’</em>
</p><p>The ship shuddered and rocked, lights and alarms flashing in concert as the missiles from the enemy vessel that made it through the GARDIAN system impact their shields and then the hull. Hades shook in his seat as the ship jerked violently from a larger explosion. Looking over at Lela and the doctor he saw both of them holding onto their restraint systems, both clearly uncomfortable in the chaos.</p><p>As soon as it had begun it was over and the alarms were silenced by Daemon at his station, the bright glow of his eye moving over each of them in turn, cutting through the sudden gloom.</p><p>“Status report!”</p><p>Hades smirked at Calico’s tense but in control voice through the intercom as he pulled up everything he could as well as the ground team’s reports.</p><p>“Captain, we have suffered numerous hull breaches. No critical damage to infrastructure, but several levels will need to be repaired before atmosphere can be restored. We will need a full docking structure to begin repairs. Estimates of time and cost being forwarded now. Several power conduits were damage and partial sections are without power. Crew quarters, CIC and hangar bay are functional, but the machine shops and larger labs are without power.”</p><p>“Understood, status of enemy vessel?”</p><p>“Captain we are detecting atmosphere venting from several impact sites on the ship. A distress beacon has been activated and a communication for surrender has been issued. Frequencies do not match any known mercenary company or private militia.”</p><p>There was a moment of silence and Hades could tell Calico was thinking over her options.</p><p>“Target their core, use the main cannon. Kill that ship. We don’t take any chances with these assholes. They already surprised us on the ground once. They could initiate a self-destruct if we pull alongside.”</p><p>“Confirmed Captain, charging the main cannon now. Thirty seconds to firing.”</p><p>Hades unbuckled himself and moved to check on Lela and Tinoko who were shaken from the sudden assault but otherwise unharmed.</p><p>“Compared to some of what I saw during the Reaper Conflict this was nothing. Seems the Captain decided to take it personally however.”</p><p>Hades could only shrug at Lela’s observation. “I don’t know her well enough to determine whether or not it was overkill, but I would agree with the assessment. They came out shooting at us, and the situation on the ground is not normal. Typically ships like that try to run once they know they’re outgunned. They fought. That’s a dangerous enemy to leave laying around.”</p><p>The doctor spoke up next, “I would tend to agree with the Captain. The last-ditch attempt to kill us only speaks to some unknown motivation. Detonating their core as we approach for help wouldn’t be off the table for someone like that.”</p><p>Hades copied Lela as they both turned to stare at Tinoko, and he watched Daemon copy their movement from his periphery. His expression must have given the doctor some idea of what they were going to ask.</p><p>“I served on several warships before this one after the Reaper Conflict. Alliance or no, they couldn’t turn down good medical help. I got familiar with piracy situations in the early years.”</p><p>Hades only hummed in response while Lela cocked her head, “Well Doc, good to know that you’re not just a friendly face. Remind me to not to piss you off.”</p><p>Hades nodded at the knowing smile Tinoko gave him and turned back to his terminal as Calico strode into the room from the cockpit.</p><p>“Doctor, Hades, Lela.” She addressed them all, looking at them in turn, “I hope that wasn’t too uncomfortable, but at least we’re all alive. Daemon can I get a status report on the ground please.”</p><p>“Yes Captain. One moment.”</p><p>Hades turned to Calico, catching her eye, “Didn’t think you’d be the one to vaporize an enemy ship like that. Specially when it’s already disabled.”</p><p>She turned to stare at him, deep blue eyes meeting red across the room, “I do not suffer fools lightly, and they put my ship and crew at risk. They sealed their fate the moment they opened fire on that colony.”</p><p>Hades felt his spine straighten at the steel in her voice, understanding that while she may have been younger, the war had definitely aged her beyond her years. He gave her a nod in respect and turned his attention back to Daemon and the current ground situation that he’d lost track of due to their own conflict.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Over 800 hits! Thanks to everyone continuing to read this story, it's really awesome to see. Comments and Kudos are appreciated, but most of all I hope everyone is enjoying things so far. Couple more chapters to finish this little section off then on to Omega and some familiar faces.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Best Laid Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes things don't always work out, and even the best laid plans go awry.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope this chapter makes up for the late update. Been extremely busy lately and have a lot to deal with. </p><p>Thank you for all the views, I hope that everyone is still enjoying this odd little story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Alpha Team – New Canton</strong>
</p><p>Crar pulled the Widow into his shoulder, the optics displaying his elevation, windspeed, distance and current ammo selection as he scanned the terrain in front of him. He was currently perched in a larger four-story building with two geth units as backup while he provided overwatch for the team.</p><p>The retreating mercenary group had coalesced around their central command post towards the edge of town where some of the heavier fighting had taken place. The colony’s security forces had done their best, and the damage to the surrounding area showed it. Buildings were blown apart, walls collapsed, and piles of rubble and bodies scattered willy-nilly around the town center.</p><p>“Alpha-One this is Bravo-One, eyes on the command post. Looks like they’re ready for us. Deployed barriers, turrets, and plenty of defensive positions. No sign of someone who might be in charge, but definitely a chain of command being used. The ones with a black stripe and red star on their helmets seem to be giving orders.”</p><p>“Copy that Bravo-One, keep an eye on that command post. We’re working our way forward now, Alpha-Two is setting up the gunships now. Priorities heavy weapons and command units, we’ll clear out the rest of the rabble. You see the leader of this nonsense you take him out any way you can.”</p><p>Crar gave a wide smile as he adjusted his bandolier of high-explosive sabot rounds. The specialty cartridges were a pain to manufacture, and required more time to load and use, but Crar preferred their effects on soft targets to other munitions.</p><p>“Copy that Alpha-One.”</p><p>Crar readjusted his view, scanning over the command center once more then back to the cargo ship that the mercenaries had brought with them for their cargo. He counted another several enemies guarding the open cargo hatch where crates of ore and goods sat ready for sale once they left orbit.</p><p>Gailus came over his comms, “All teams standby, I have control. Alpha-Two in thirty seconds open up with the launchers and take out as many hard targets as you can. Mantis-One and Mantis-Two, follow up with rockets and guns on the turrets.”</p><p>Crar smiled and settled himself, rifle braced on the desk he was using for support, the window having been shattered by the previous fighting. His position in the office allowed for some discretion, but he’d planned out an escape route just in case.</p><p>He leveled out his optic on what he’d deemed an ‘officer’, finger resting lightly on the trigger, awaiting the inbound ordinance from Ares and his geth units. He’d smiled when Gailus decided to grab several of the ML-77 launchers and repurpose them against their former owners. Re-programming the warheads for an arced trajectory rather than line-of-sight allowed for them to be used as mortars rather than the direct fire weapon they were. The trade off in accuracy was worth the ability to use them from a greater range.</p><p>“Missiles away, five seconds to impact.” The synthetic voice of Ares came over their comms and Crar started a mental countdown, finger tightening on the trigger. He watched as the merc he was targeting paused, possibly getting a warning of the inbound missiles.</p><p>Crar let out a breath, trigger ready to break as the world inside his optics exploded in smoke and fire. Pulling his head back he looked at the small crater where his target had been standing, pieces of ruble, bodies and equipment scattered around. He growled, unamused at the interruption to what would have been his kill before shifting to another target to vent his frustration.</p><p>He did note with satisfaction the missiles had the intended effect, the troops were running for cover, somewhat disorganized and panicky. More missiles impacted in a staggered fashion, catching the enemy unawares and sowing more chaos and discord. Secondary explosions started fires through the enemy lines that gave off thick black smoke.</p><p>Crar lined up another shot on a turian trooper running for a barricade and quickly fired, the shot punching through shields and armor, the blue blood splashing over the others it had been attempting to take cover with.</p><p>Grinning, the krogan loaded one of his high-explosive rounds, taking careful aim at a salarian that looked like he was rallying troops through the chaos. Instead of a clean headshot that would simply remove the salarian from the battlefield, Crar went for the shock-and-awe route.</p><p>With careful pressure on the trigger Crar fired his rifle, watching with satisfaction as the salarian took the round to the center of his chest. Gore and blood splashed on the ground with several mercenaries looking on in horror as their closest leader was torn apart. Crar snorted with glee as more mercenaries took cover instead of attempting to fight back against the ground team assaulting them.</p><p>“Bravo-Two, need fire support on the turret closest to your position, we can’t get an angle on it.”</p><p>He double-clicked his radio in response before loading up a second high-explosive round and swiveling his rifle around to track the turret firing on Gailus. He watched as the three mercenaries manning the barricades worked to keep the turret operational and swapped the turret’s heat-sinks for fresh ones in an attempt to keep up the increased rate of fire.</p><p>Crar drew a careful bead on the turret’s housing, waiting for one of the mercs to open the heat-sink port to ensure a shot that would take it out of commission permanently. His chance came a moment later and the ensuing explosion killed one of the mercenaries outright and injured another with the third taking a rifle shot to the head courtesy of the Widow.</p><p>“Alpha-One, you’re cleared. Herd is thinning out a bit, waiting to find the leader of this pack of varren.”</p><p>“Understood, Alpha-One out.”</p><p>oOo</p><p>Mantis gunships roared overhead as Gailus took cover behind a ruined wall, gunfire echoing around him as the geth, and commandos returned fire at the mercenary forces. Most of his body hurt from having to slam himself into cover and he was about to go murder someone for a drink of water, his reserves having run low in the ongoing conflict.</p><p>“Alpha-Three shift your team right to cover Bravo-One. We’ve punched through the turrets on that side, and we have a good approach towards their communications post.”</p><p>The acknowledgement from Enis came quickly and he saw a flash of biotics and several figures moving quickly towards the building Crar had holed up in. Taking aim, he dropped another mercenary, hoping that he’d soon run out of targets to shoot, if only to take a breather from the fighting.</p><p>“Alpha-One this is Overlord. We are operational once more, will be sending updated ground reference in a moment. Ground forces look like they’re thinning out, expect them to dig in a bit. Possible krogan on the ground, got some larger heat signatures, be careful.”</p><p>“Copy all Overlord.”</p><p>Gailus repeated the information to his teams and began moving forward to another shattered wall through the smoke and fire of the battlefield. The missiles had done their job almost too well, the lingering dust and debris obscured their vision and thick smoke from the burning fires only added to the problem.</p><p>
  <em>‘Krogan. Just what we need right now. Surprised we haven’t seen them earlier, vanguard maybe?’</em>
</p><p>Gailus wasn’t pleased at the revelation and possibility of a krogan unit operating on the battlefield, but there wasn’t much to be done about it at the moment. The routine of take cover, move, aim, fire and reload became irritating to him. Stress dragged at his movements, the stim he’d popped hours earlier beginning to wear off. It was well past the midday mark planet-side and they’d been on the ground for longer than any of them had expected thanks to the heavy weapons and entrenched enemy.</p><p>The stale smell of recycled air, weapon heatsinks, and smoke assaulted his nose and he snorted as he reloaded his rifle once again. Shifting to lean around a corner he fired at another humanoid shape that made the unfortunate mistake of standing in the open for too long.</p><p>The recoil of his rifle brought back the ache in his shoulder, and he knew he’d have a bruising there in the morning. He thought of Calico and his bed and a hot oil treatment after getting back to his ship. He could feel grit and rubble in every joint of his armor, and something had wedged itself in between his helmet and cowl making him irritable.</p><p>
  <em>‘We’re taking a fucking vacation after this.’</em>
</p><p>The glow of a biotic detonation brought his focus back to reality as Enis and Veyiz detonated a large warp in the midst of a group of troops. Body parts, armor and debris rained down around a shell-shocked enemy.</p><p>“Spectre Gailus!”</p><p>The robotic intonation of Ares came over his comm line, but before he could sus out the worried concern, he heard he was hit by one of the aforementioned krogan who came barreling out of a ruined defensive position. The impact rattled every plate on his body and he instinctively curled into himself in an attempt to lessen the hit he would take once he landed.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Enis turned back at the yell from Ares, watching as the krogan merc hit the Spectre in a charge, sending the tall turian flying. Around him the geth emptied their rifles into the enraged monster as it battered a platform with his shotgun and knocking it to the ground.</p><p>A rifle shot rang out from above her as Crar futilely attempted to stop the other krogan from damaging the geth or hurting Gailus. Enis drew upon her biotic energy to pull the krogan off of Gailus’ unit but had to take cover as a round impacted her barrier and shields, forcing her to take cover.</p><p>“Ares you have to kill that motherfucker!”</p><p>Enis wasn’t sure why Veyiz was so incensed, but she agreed with the sentiment. The enemy krogan was soaking up too much attention and had beaten down another geth platform. The Prime platform had been on Gailus’ other flank, assaulting a defensive fortification that had been pounding the team with rifle fire. The abrupt chaos had given the mercenaries an opportunity to try and attack him directly and someone had hit his weapon with an overload.</p><p>Enis watched the Prime drop the Pulse Cannon he regularly used activated a combat drone from the storage compartment on his back which quickly floated towards the enemy mercenaries, launching a rocket to disrupt their attacks. She watched as he quickly ran towards the krogan who was pointing his large Claymore shotgun at a downed geth platform before being hit by the twelve-foot wrecking ball of geth Prime.</p><p>The krogan was knocked back for a moment, shotgun forgotten on the ground where it was thrown. Enis watched as the two brawled for a moment, the krogan in his blood rage unwilling or incapable of being put down.</p><p>She ducked as a chunk of the wall she was crouched behind was turned to dust by the enemies shooting at her. Turning back to Veyiz she motioned for the other commando to focus on the immediate threat in front of them. She slammed a new thermal clip into her rifle and took a quick peek around the wall.</p><p>In front of her were three enemy mercenaries and what appeared to be one of the commanding officers for the enemy group. The tall turian had the black stripe and red star on his helmet while the rest of the enemies either lacked a helmet or the insignia.</p><p>“Veyiz, focus on the turian, then hit the group with a singularity. I’ll follow up with a warp.”</p><p>The following shots from Veyiz were effective and Enis watched as the turian had to duck to avoid more fire. Several of their geth platforms took the opportunity to either move up or attempt to assist Ares in his assault on the krogan and the other mercenaries that had pushed forward in his aggressive attack.</p><p>Enis took the opportunity to fire back at her attackers before heaving a warp into the singularity that Veyiz produced and watched as the biotic explosion outright killed one of the mercenaries and knocked the others out of cover. Bursts of assault rifle fire followed the sudden explosion and Enis watched in satisfaction as the various enemies were cut to pieces, the last receiving a bullet from Crar that removed most of the head.</p><p>The commando turned to watch Gailus recovered behind a low wall, his shotgun out and primed waiting for a clean shot on the krogan that Ares was still fighting. The looming alien was bleeding from a dozen wounds and the left arm was hanging loosely by his side, though the stubborn krogan was bellowing out a war cry as a brutal punch from Ares snapped his large head to the side.</p><p>She watched as the lanky Spectre darted from cover and managed to put a shot into the krogan’s leg, forcing him to drop to a knee. Ares followed up by grabbing up the dropped Claymore shotgun and after racking in a new thermal clip the Prime unit shoved it against the krogan’s chest and pulled the trigger. Orange colored ichor exploded outward from the impact, covering the geth Prime and a smoking hole in the krogan’s chest signaled the end of the fight.</p><p>Enis smirked at the cheer Veyiz let out at the sight, nodding at Gailus who returned the gesture before their comms came to life.</p><p>“Before you all start congratulating each other, looks like the pyjacks are pulling back to their ship.”</p><p>Enis looked out towards the center of town, now suspiciously silent from her position just as the main command post detonated in a flash of fire and pressure. Rubble and dust whipped past her as she pulled back and covered her head. Muffled yells of incredulity echoed through the comms from her teammates, and she could hear Hades’ voice in the background of the roaring explosion.</p><p>Several buildings collapsed in the aftermath and secondary explosions could be heard in various positions in what remained of the town turned battlefield.</p><p>“Gunships are engaging enemy targets returning to their ship. Roughly twenty hostiles in the open, no indication of a leadership element.”</p><p>Ares mechanical voice was the first thing that came through clearly once Enis’ ears stopped ringing. Gailus’ follow up to the ship and Ares’ information was next followed by swearing from both Veyiz and Crar. Turning she managed to catch Crar jumping down from the second floor of his sniper perch followed by the geth units with him. Muffled explosions and the sound of mass effect cannons in the distance echoed back amongst the buildings and Enis could only imagine the carnage that was being wrought on the retreating mercenary forces.</p><p>“The enemy vessel has initiated takeoff; several hostiles are still on the ground and will not make it to their ship in time. The Artemisium is currently on the far side of the planet and will not be able to engage before the ship makes the relay. Gunships lack proper ordinance to penetrate the ships shielding.”</p><p>Enis moved over to where Gailus was standing with Ares and heard Veyiz and Crar come up behind her.</p><p>“Spirits be damned.”</p><p>Enis could sympathize with the sentiment.</p><p>“Overlord this is Alpha-One. Mission is completed, ready for pick-up. We’ll coordinate with the town before leaving. Get a message to the Council, Hierarchy and Alliance, we’re going to need a recovery team here to help these people out.”</p><p>The confirmation came through after a moment’s pause. Enis took in the tense posture of the Spectre, understanding the troubled feelings that radiated from him.</p><p>“Come on boss. Let’s go dig the colonists out. Might have some information for us.”</p><p>Enis silently thanked Crar for the suggestion as Gailus only nodded and turned towards the emergency bunkers where they colonists had most likely hid.</p><p>Between the colony being in ruins, the escape of what remained of the mercenary force and the lack of any current intelligence on the enemy, Enis could only look forward to getting out of her armor, a hot shower and some sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Common Ground</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The crew returns to the ship while Veyiz and Enis learn something new about Hades.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>SSV Artemisium</strong>
</p>
<p>Hades put the finishing touches on the stew and pulled the warming bread loaves from the kitchen’s oven. It had taken several hours for the teams on the ground to settle the colonists and deal with the fallout from the mercenary assault but had finally made their way off the planet. He had taken his leave from the C.I.C. and with Lela following him started making dinner for everyone. He couldn’t hope to match Enis’ clear skill in the kitchen, but he drew on an old recipe from his time in the Alliance that his team had liked as well as Lela’s suggestions on what the crew would want. The time had passed with idle talk and Lela’s assistance with some of the cooking.</p>
<p>“I’ve been meaning to ask, and I hope you don’t mind, but why do you sometimes wear your suit with the face plate on and others with it off?”</p>
<p>She paused in her stirring of the stew they had made, looking to her face plate that was set on the counter next to the electronic stove.</p>
<p>“Mostly habit honestly. I’m relatively safe while on the ship, the Geth keep the air filtered and are able to neutralize most issues. But if I go off ship, I’ll wear it just for the extra protection. The treatment the geth and salarians are working on isn’t a total solution and you experienced firsthand how much we had to ensure you weren’t carrying anything out of the ordinary before I was able to take it off again.”</p>
<p>Hades nodded, “Makes sense. Omega isn’t a place where even those of us with working immune systems feel totally comfortable.”<br/><br/>The smile she gave him was bright, “I don’t think I’d ever visit Omega without my suit fully working. But it has been a joy to experience meat and real food. Having to sterilize everything was a gigantic <em>kiyet.</em>”</p>
<p>He snorted at the obvious curse in her native tongue that his translator didn’t filter, “Well, good to hear that the treatment is working well for all of you. We didn’t get many geth or quarians on Omega after the War, not that we had that many to begin with.”</p>
<p>Her response was interrupted by the intercom system pinging to life, “Creator Lela’Veezh and Hades, the ground teams are initiating docking procedures and will be onboard in five minutes.”</p>
<p>“Thank you Artemisium.”</p>
<p>Lela turned to him, “Lets get all this in the warming compartments and go see how they’re doing.”</p>
<p>Hades nodded at the suggestion and set out the last of the accoutrements for dinner before joining Lela in the lift.</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Hades leaned back against the hangar wall, watching as the shuttles complete their docking procedures while Calico paced nearby, and Lela had found a seat on a storage crate. Several geth platforms including Daemon and the one with gold markings called Hephaestus stood by to receive the crew and equipment.</p>
<p>The shuttles completed the docking process, magnetic clamps securing them to the hold and the doors opened with the hiss of the remaining pressurized atmosphere. The first ones out were the geth platforms, moving quickly with purpose as they began unloading the shuttles of various crates and the damaged platforms.</p>
<p>Next off was Gailus followed shortly by Crar who assisted in dragging Ares out of the shuttle before the Prime unfolded to its full twelve-foot stature. On the other shuttle more geth unloaded storage crates and weapons that were salvaged from the battlefield.</p>
<p>He watched as Calico nearly catapulted herself into Gailus’ arms, with the Spectre returning the enthusiastic hug. He gave a quick eye roll and a smile at the pair of them together, the once serious Spectre and Captain now a pair of lovebirds. The ground battle hadn’t sounded all that pleasant and he remembered seeing Gailus get hit by the krogan mercenary. Calico had nearly wrenched his arm out of its socket when she grabbed him to steady herself from hitting the terminal in anger.</p>
<p>Hades diverted his gaze back to Enis and Veyiz disembarking the shuttle right as Calico pressed her head to Gailus’, feeling like he was intruding on their intimate moment. Instead, he watched as the two commandos stepped off the ship, they and the rest of the ground team looking all the worse for their excursion.</p>
<p>Catching Enis’ eye, he flashed a quick hand signal he’d learned during his time on Omega from the asari commando’s that worked there, that was the equivalent of “are you okay”. He’d been taught the mix of hand signals and body language after he learned the elite asari warriors didn’t use electronic comms nearly as much as the Alliance or Hierarchy did.</p>
<p>She stared at him for a moment, the corner of her mouth turning up in what he could only imagine was a mix of surprise and gratitude as she returned the ‘all good’ motion.</p>
<p>Seeing that she was covered in grit and grime and had been in the vicinity of a rather large explosion he raised an eyebrow at her in question. This time he received a toothy smile in return and a nod of the head as she signaled, she was ‘combat effective’ or as he deemed it, ‘not that injured’.</p>
<p>Outwardly he inclined his head toward Veyiz who was busy talking to one of the geth platforms and hadn’t seen their exchange. Inwardly he was struggling not to check on the team personally, as he would have during his time on Omega.</p>
<p>He watched as Enis nudged Veyiz to get her attention and then nodded towards him, a small smile still on her face. He gave the same hand signal and couldn’t stop the snort of amusement when Veyiz’ purple-colored markings moved in an approximation of raised eyebrows, her eyes asking the clear question she didn’t voice. She flashed the same ‘I’m good’ hand signal Enis had before adding a ‘what the fuck’.</p>
<p>He waved off Lela’s look of concern and confusion as he coughed trying to hold in his laughter. “I’ll tell you later, just surprised the asari and in my experience that’s pretty damned hard to do.”</p>
<p>He snorted again as Lela mumbled something resembling “bosh'tet” under her breath before she moved off her crate to talk to Ares and assess the damage to his platform. He watched as the geth platforms moved and organized weapon crates per Crar’s instructions on how he wanted them and was about to follow the krogan to the armory before Gailus and Calico stopped in front of him.</p>
<p>“I wanted to say good work today. We appreciated having you on comms and providing updates while Calico dealt with that ship.”</p>
<p>He nodded at the turian, having to look up at the overly tall alien, “Happy to have been of assistance, even if it was a pretty nasty clusterfuck. How many of the geth were able to upload back to the servers here?”</p>
<p>Gailus’ mandibles twitched and Hades watched his hands curl into fists before relaxing again. “We lost seven mobile platforms total and only four of them were able to upload before they were destroyed. We’ll have to replace the lost platforms and talk with Ares about how the geth want to move forward. I doubt it’s the last we’ll see of that merc group and them being as heavily armed as they were means we need some reinforcements if not more contractors like yourself.”</p>
<p>Hades could only nod. The ground team, while capable of taking on the ground forces they encountered could have been easily overwhelmed if the mercenaries had been competent with their tactics.</p>
<p>“Anyways, thank you for making food. We’ll see you up there after I get my gear put up.”</p>
<p>Hades watched them move off towards the lift before turning around to see both Enis and Veyiz waiting to gain his attention. He raised an eyebrow at them, knowing full well what they were going to ask, but deciding to prolong the inevitable for a moment.</p>
<p>Veyiz spoke first, “You really just going to stand there and not explain to the two commandos how you know their hand codes?”</p>
<p>He smirked at her, “I figured I’d do it over drinks and relaxation after dinner. Lela and I made stew and tossed a few bread loaves in for everyone.”</p>
<p>Veyiz just narrowed her eyes at him, “Fine, you win. Food sounds great right now, and I don’t really feel like putting you in stasis at the moment. Drinks and an explanation afterwards. Commandos don’t just teach that to anyone.”</p>
<p>With that Hades watched her and Enis have a silent conversation in the span of a moment before she moved off towards the armory, yelling at Crar to hurry up so she could stow her stuff.</p>
<p>“She’s not mad right? Not sure I’d survive her actually being irritated with me.”</p>
<p>Enis laughed and shook her head before clapping him on the shoulder and walking off towards the armory, “Looking forward as to who taught you our hand signals. I hope it’s a good story at least.”</p>
<p>oOo</p>
<p>Dinner was a quiet affair, everyone absorbed in their own thoughts and worn out after the day’s excursion. Hades did note that everyone on the ground team went for seconds, which he considered a win. Especially since it was really the only recipe he knew, other than the usual basics. As he expected Gailus and Calico retreated to their room shortly after dinner, while Lela went back down to the hangar bay to check the repairs on the damaged geth. Crar as usual had grabbed several portions and returned to his armory to examine the weapons and equipment that they’d taken off the mercs.</p>
<p>Hades followed the two commandos into the starboard observation room watching as Enis sunk into one of the plush chairs with a groan and Veyiz stepped behind the bar to start making drinks. After a quick eyebrow raise and a returned nod, he took a seat across from Enis and grinned as Veyiz mumbled to herself about ingredients and needing more alcohol.</p>
<p>Moments later she sidled over with their drinks, three Black Sunsets, and took up a spot on one of the couches, motioning for Hades to get on with it.</p>
<p>“Alright, so the new leader of the Talon’s who took over after Nyreen Kandros’ death is an Asari by the name of Taloravi M’Crysava. A former commando and prior instructor of the Serrice Guard. She was the one that really pushed my education in warfare to a new standard. I was pretty good when I was in the Alliance, but after six months with her cracking the whip and having my ass handed to me in nearly every conceivable way by her commandos, I actually managed to learn something.”</p>
<p>“Damned well hope she did if she taught you our hand signals. Those are usually kept close to individual units.” This came from Veyiz who seemed inordinately incensed at his use of them earlier. He smiled at her reaction though, so similar to many of the asari he’d worked with before.</p>
<p>“I was on Omega for fifteen years, and Tal was there for all of them. Most likely still is.” He sipped at his drink, the memories of his time on Omega rushing forward, notably those of the Talon’s and Tal’s odd fondness for him.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘I hope she won’t be too mad at me for disappearing like I did. Probably wouldn’t be good for my health.’</em>
</p>
<p>“Anyways, she took a liking to me, and was later my introduction to Aria. But since I spent so much time working with the commandos on the station, as well as a variety of others, I started catching on to the hand signals and body language they used with each other. One day I asked about it.”</p>
<p>He sipped at his drink, watching the expressions on both of their faces. Enis seemed attentive and interested, clearly filing away information for later while Veyiz seemed confused as to how he’d breached the closely held trust of the huntresses so as to be taught their secrets. He could almost see the questions burning behind her pale blue eyes.</p>
<p>“Tal and nearly everyone else that I talked to told me to fuck off, and to forget about it.” Hades shrugged, “Tal basically told me that I wasn’t even worth her time to talk to much less train and that I needed to let it go. Well, that went over about as well as you would expect with my younger hot-headed self. So, I doubled down.”</p>
<p>He could see the amusement written on both the asari’s faces, Veyiz carrying a slight smirk while Enis had a soft smile.</p>
<p>“So, after a solid month of being the biggest pain in the ass I think Tal had ever met, she got fed up. Beat the hell out of me. Like how turians let off stress with sparring, I think she did the same and apparently, I had really stressed her out. I spent three weeks in the medical center after our little ‘spar’. After I made it out of the clinic, she sat me down and told me that if I wanted to learn that I would go through what she deemed <em>acceptable training</em>.”</p>
<p>He watched them wince in what he could only imagine was sympathy. The first time he’d heard the phrase was when Tal was evaluating several new recruits and a few former huntresses for the Talon’s and Aria’s groups. The next time he’d seen them several had disappeared and the rest look like they’d been in a fight with an entire krogan clan. He assumed it was a standard phrase that the trainers used when breaking in new huntresses.</p>
<p>“How long did it take you?” This from Enis whose gaze had turned from inquisitive to evaluating at the mention of what he now assumed was a common phrase for the excruciating training he’d gone through.</p>
<p>“Because I lacked biotics, I was either lucky or unlucky enough to meet her demands after seven years.”</p>
<p>“Seven years? What in the Goddess’ name did she put you through? No offense but you’re human, and not a biotic. You lack our lifespan and abilities. Why take that long in training someone who was already experienced?” Veyiz had straightened in her seat, clearly interested in the answer.</p>
<p>“Well, what I didn’t know at the time was that Aria was looking to put together the unit that I worked with and told you briefly about. Highly trained and efficient soldiers or contractors if you will. All working on the same baseline of training and abilities. Tal was the starting point, and even after the rough formation of our group the training didn’t stop.”</p>
<p>“Aria was training her own form of Commandos since she didn’t have the same resources as the Republics.”</p>
<p>He nodded at the quiet statement from Veyiz, “That’s what I imagine the intent was. Especially after the shitshow with Cerberus and Archangel’s interference, she wanted her own force to handle shit.”</p>
<p>He watched the two asari lean back in their seats, sensing they wanted a moment to sort through the information he’d given them. He sipped at his own drink, the spice from the root she used and the sweetness of the rum settling some of the nervousness he’d gotten retelling his story.</p>
<p>Tal had been brutal but fair in the training. Had taken the fifty recruits at the start and molded twelve of them into something resembling a professional fighting force instead of washed-up mercenaries. Even the younger huntresses, decades more experienced gave them an ounce of respect. The older and even more experienced commandos simply stopped giving them as much shit as they once had, much of it turning into friendly jabs and camaraderie.</p>
<p>Slipping back into his own memories he began to elaborate on what Tal had done with him and his team.<br/><br/>“Anyways, on top of the hand signals and some of the best survival training I’d seen, we ran drills and team exercises till we literally couldn’t move. Then we got an hour of sleep and did it again. Room clearing, working with biotic users and training in explosives. Recon and intel gathering, basic espionage and tradecraft. She put all of us through the ringer. Ended up detoxing off stims more than a few times.” <br/><br/>He focused back on the two attentive figures before him, a captivated audience if he’d ever seen one.</p>
<p>He nodded, “To clarify because you look particularly skeptical Veyiz.” He laughed at her huff, “Tal took experienced mercs and soldiers and turned them into an actual combat unit, not just separate personalities with guns. We were disciplined, well-tuned and probably took overkill to a new level. Didn’t matter if you were some red-sand dealers late on a payment or a gang that had pissed off Aria. You fucked with her, you had us knocking at your door.”</p>
<p>He snorted, “Hell most of what we learned was how to scrape fractions of a second off our shooting records or our reload times. Transitioning targets and shooting on the move accurately. Every little detail honed to a fine edge and then ingrained to a point where we could do it in our sleep. It turned from training to instinct. The element of surprise became our trademark, and we gained a bit of a reputation on the station.”</p>
<p>“The fear of the unknown is a trademark amongst some Cadre within the Republics. It would seem that this Taloravi was a student of such a Cadre sometime in the past.” <br/><br/>Enis sipped at her drink, agreeing along with Veyiz’ assessment, “We undergo similar training, but usually it’s measured in decades or a century, not a few years. It sounds like this Taloravi was building something similar but working within each species life expectancy.”Hades nodded, looking down at his arm, a sudden emptiness coming back to him. “I guess in the end it didn’t really matter. I still got taken out by a Cerberus goon squad and a single grenade. The best training and tactics in the galaxy won’t help you if you’re not with those you can trust.”</p>
<p>He missed his team, missed Tal and Omega. He’d had a family there, a home where he was useful and able to contribute. There was a similarity between his former team and the crew of the SSV Artemisium that enjoyed, but he was still the outsider on the ship and most likely would be for quite some time.</p>
<p>Veyiz resettled herself on the couch, “Alright, enough of that you mopey sad-sack. Can’t go back and change the past and your only option here is to move forward. Stick with us and we’ll get you back up to speed in beating up those poor red-sand dealers in no time.”</p>
<p>Hades couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, it was refreshing to have someone like Veyiz tell him to ‘buck up pal’ in her unique way. He could feel the anxiety he carried with him lifting for a moment as Veyiz launched into some story of her misguided youth that had both Enis and himself laughing with her.</p>
<p>The quick flash of the ‘are you okay?’ motion came from Enis as Veyiz was distracted at the bar, launching into a story of her college days as she refreshed drinks.</p>
<p>A small smile on his face he returned ‘All good’ and a quick flash of ‘thank you’.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope everyone enjoys this little fluff piece, please let me know if the training aspect comes off too strongly. I'm not trying to make anyone Master Chief or turn them into an overpowered OC. </p>
<p>There's probably going to be a bit of a break on the next chapter. Between school finals and a serious need to knock out another chapter for Order Meets Chaos I can't promise a consistent update till mid May. That being said there will be a piece for Gailus and Calico dropping that's finished. </p>
<p>Thank you all again for the Kudos, Comments and Views. Would love to hear what people think of the story so far or at the very least what you think of the writing.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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